360 no 37

Entry for October 03, 2007, 360 import, Re-reading Hesse
Oct 3, '07 3:57 PM
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A very strange thing happened to me today. I decided to sort out my books and pack some up for the charity shop. I always find sorting through books difficult because no matter how resolute my intention it inevitably ends with me sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by open books, deeply engrossed in at least one of them. This time was slightly different. I was sat, as predicted, in the midst of half open books when one book, with no provocation or encouragement what so ever, quite literally threw itself from the top shelf of the bookcase and landed, face up and open in my lap.
This book was a very old paperback. This book was just about the first 'serious' book I ever read. And there, in my lap, sat the original copy of the book I had bought in the early 70's. I was still young and impressionable with a mind ripe for education. This book changed the way I think, it introduced me to my long term all time favorite author. I have not read his work for so long. But, as I sat reading this, every thing I felt then just came flooding back. And the strange thing is, this particular passage is just so apt.............this is how I feel when I try to write
''However, the more pages I read of my handwriting, the less did I like the manuscript. Even in my former most despondent hours it had never seemed so futile and absurd to me as now. Everything seemed so confused and stupid; the clearest relationships were distorted, the most obvious forgotten, the trivial and the unimportant pushed into the foreground. It must be written again, right from the beginning. As I continued reading the manuscript, I had to cross out sentence after sentence, and as I crossed them out, they crumbled on the paper, and the clear, sloping letters separated into assorted fragments, into strokes and points, into circles, small flowers and stars, and the pages were covered like carpets with graceful, meaningless, ornamental designs. Soon there was nothing more left of my text; on the other hand there was much unused paper left for my work. I pulled myself together. I tried to see things clearly.''
Just a small excerpt from
'The Journey to the East', Herman Hesse, pub Panther Books 1972. (this particular version has an introduction by Timothy Leary which is worth reading too)
I had forgotten the pleasure of reading Hesse. I don't think so many people read his books now. So.... now rather than packing books up for the charity shop I have sorted out all my old Hesse books with the intention of re-reading ASAP.
Tags: 360 import, hesse, literature
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360 35

ntry for September 28, 2007, 360 import, WALKGB4CLIMB
Sep 28, '07 5:10 PM
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I have a lovely elderly aunt called Barbara who has to be about 78 by now. She has always enjoyed walking and has recently written to me about a charity she has become involved with. It seems, the leader of the walking group she belongs to is planning on walking around the coast of the UK. His walk will begin from Bognor Pier on New years Day 2008 and is expected to take about 10 months. He is walking to raise money for a charity called 'CLIMB' which stands for 'Children living with Inherited Metabolic Diseases'. Her reason for writing was to ask if I know anyone who could offer overnight accommodation to him and/or offer sponsorship. Obviously he can stay with me for a night, I live on the North/East coast of Scotland, but if anyone else lives by the coast and would like to offer a free nights accommodation to a very worth while cause , please do .
The e-mail address is
info.svcs@climb.org.uk
and the website is
http://www.climb.org.uk
THANKS FOLKS.
 Colin Snook 
Colin has always had the ambition to walk around Great Britain and has plotted a route which will cover in excess of four thousand miles over three hundred days in 2008. All in support of Climb
For those of us untouched by a metabolic disease it is difficult to imagine the impact that the birth of an affected child has on the family and the subsequent lengthy medical and ethical uphill battles that have to be fought on that child’s behalf. However, I did have a brief insight into this dilemma when I visited a teenager in her teens at a respite centre who was in the latter stages of a Metabolic Disease. It turned out to be an traumatic experience, the memory of which I have been unable to shrug off.
My chance meeting has given me even greater purpose to achieve this ambition so with the backing and support of Climb I aim to raise £50,000 for Climb.
Climb Needs Your Help to Help Colin!
Colin aims to use a combination of B & B, backpacking, rough camping, campsites and the YHA hostels for accommodation over a period of ten months, and averaging 15 miles walking per day. For most of his journey Colin will be hugging the coast but on reaching Scotland he will head inland to take on the West Highland Way and then through the central highlands to Cape Wrath. From here he will return to the many coastal paths for the long journey south back to his starting point in West Sussex.
We thought Climb could assist in supplementing these choices and that those of you in our Family Network, living near to the intended route, might like to be involved and 'host' Colin a night’s accommodation (and a shower!) as he passes through to help him reach his £50,000 target at minimum expenditure. Also we are investigating police, fire and coast guard stations that may have a spare bed, together with campsites and holiday camps. For occasional pampering, we would like contacts with hotels along the way at reduced or no cost, so if you have the name of someone we can approach for any of these types of accommodation please do let us know. We can then pass on all our offers to Colin to help him plan his route.
Climb wishes to give Colin the publicity and support he deserves so we look to you to provide us with local media contacts as he travels round and gather friends and relatives to cheer him on his way. Starting date is New Year’s Day 2008 in Bognor Regis, first milestone - Lands End in mid-February!
This venture promises to be an exciting fund raiser for Climb and we hope you would like to be part of it to help Colin reach his target and achieve his ambition to Walk-GB-4-Climb!
For further information contact Climb on 0845 241 2173
Or e-mail frg.svcs@climb.org.uk
Tags: 360 import, environment, walkgb4climb, walking
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360 34

Entry for September 28, 2007, 360 import, LONG AWAITED UPDATE ON CHILD/NEEDLE INCIDENT.
Sep 28, '07 4:06 PM
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THIS IS AN INTERNET PICTURE NOT A PHOTO OF THE CHILD IN QUESTION.
I don't think I need remind any one about the incident in the summer where a three year old girl stood an a discarded hypodermic needle in her own garden!!.
Letters have been written to just about anyone and everyone who will listen. They all make the appropriate noises and send sympathetic and supportive letters of response. Some of those letters showed a genuine concern and eagerness to help but to date the situation remains the same. The family in question have not been offered alternative accommodation. The junkie next door continues to deal her drugs to the dregs of society who loiter continuously outside in the street. A couple of weeks ago she was arrested and charged, but within hours she was back home living in the midst of decent families trying to bring their children up in securely and safely. She has now started dealing her drugs again. Some of her regular customers were seen earlier today going into her flat, presumably to buy their daily drugs. Nothing changes. The two Housing Associations who were contacted with regard to alternative accommodation have responded by saying this family does not qualify for any special treatment. They are not a priority and will be given no special consideration, as far as the Housing Associations are concerned this family is adequately housed and do not have any special needs. The Housing officer from the Local Authority who is supposed to be in charge of this particular area of housing has not even bothered to visit the family. The local authority do not consider them to have any special circumstances or to be in special need. The child in question remembers her ordeal at the hospital and still on occasions wets the bed. This young mother has said from the very start of all this that she did not wish to 'go public', she preferred to deal with things via the official channels. So much for that idea.
Earlier today I bought a copy of our small, local, weekly newspaper. And what do I see on the front page??? A story of two young boys age six and seven who were 'pricked by a discarded hypodermic needle'. The boys were apparently playing in a local children's park when they found and were 'pricked' by the needle. When the boy's father realized what had happened he raised the alarm and was told to take them directly to the nearest major hospital. These boys have had blood tests and have started a painful course of injections to protect then from Hepatitis B, this is all a very familiar story, yes, we have heard this one before. I have been in contact with the young mother concerned and with the journalist who wrote the story. Unsurprisingly he was very, very interested in our story. I could hear the keyboard going as I spoke to him. I have emailed him copies of all the letters written and details of all the responses. We didn't particularly want to go to press with this but, well, what option is left??
Maybe publicity will elicit action whereas reasoned and polite letters seemed to have failed.
Tags: disgarded needles, mental health, health, 360 import
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360 no 29

ntry for August 08, 2007, 360 import, Dementia, Malcome and Barbara, Loves Farewell.
Aug 8, '07 6:31 PM
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Malcome and Barbara, Loves Farewell.
Tonight I watched such a sad documentary on TV. This was a film taken over many years charting the diagnosis, deterioration and the final illness of a man suffering with Alzheimer's Disease. Throughout his illness he was cared for at home by his wife. She received little or no help from the health service and was seen weeping through loss, grief, exhaustion and utter frustration with the system. He was a classically trained, Oxford graduate, pianist who deteriorated to the point where he was a wasted shell of a man without hope or dignity, being hoisted around a bed, incontinent, dependent and completely unable to do anything other than breath. Even his breathing was labored and difficult. This is the cruelest illness known to man, it robs a person of everything, it steals the person and leaves behind an empty body. For many years I worked as a carer and a nurse to people with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. I loved my job but I couldn't do it any more. For a while I was part of the nursing staff on an assessment ward. It was demanding, difficult, rewarding, funny and tragic. It was one of the best and one of the saddest jobs I have ever had, there was humour, pathos, tragedy all on a daily basis and this little film brought so much of it back. I think carers 'burn out', this disease takes its toll on carers as well as victims. I just can't imagine how one woman could manage to care for a man with this disease on her own, for so long and with so little support. The lack of support for victims and carers of Alzheimer's is a national disgrace. We should all be aware of how neglected this area of medicine is and how much more we as a nation could do. During this documentary Barbara herself said, 'they manage to find money for wars and things, for Iraq, they could find money for this if they wanted too'. Oh how right she is.
POLITICIANS TAKE NOTE
Tags: 360 import, health, mental health, dementia
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360 no 15

    Entry for July 07, 2007 , 360 import, update Needle injury
Jul 7, '07 10:08 AM
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Needle Injury  update
So many of you have asked to be kept informed about this situation I thought it was about time for an update. The young mother in question has asked me not to identify her and so I shall refer to them as Gemma (the mother) and Katie (the daughter).
Katie does seem a bit more settled now and out of sheer desperation Gemma has started to allow both children to play outside again, she checks her garden before she lets them out and is always keeps a very close eye on them. This is summer holiday season and it is virtually impossible to keep a 5 year old and a 3 year old indoors for 6 weeks. Unfortunately Katie will have to go back to the hospital for more injections and when the time comes this is going to bring back all the upset and trauma. Gemma has not taken Katie back for her blood tests yet, she thinks that will be easier to deal with once she has been moved out of the area and is hopefull a little more settled. She just feels there is too much to cope with at the moment with out the additional stress of blood tests and then waiting for results. We have sent the original letter to a few more people in an effort to gain recognition of the situation and support for the family.
So far the only response to this letter has been from Andrew Welsh MSP for Angus and we are obviously very grateful for his concern and involvement.
With his support we hope to achieve two things, firstly Gemma’s family really must be rehoused away from this area. Gemma is hoping to be offered housing out of this town and into another of the Angus towns where the Local Authority have property to let. Much as she wants to see her neighbour brought to justice, she is aware of the danger of reprisals from the drug dealer and/or the drug dealer’s friends. Gemma is quite frightened of the possible consequences for herself and her children, of speaking out against this woman and would feel safer if she were to be rehoused into another town. The second thing Gemma hopes to achieve is to have the drug dealer arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced for dealing drugs. With the involvement of the MSP and hopefully the Chief Constable (who we have not actually had a response from yet), both of these two objectives may be possible.
Gemma is also aware of the enormous amount of support there is for her in the wider community and has asked me to convey her heartfelt thanks to everyone who has wished her well and taken an interest in her situation. She has also asked mE to show you all a copy of the letter sent to her by Andrew Welsh MSP for Angus.
The Scottish
Parliament
AW/ST/805/07
6 July 2007-07-07
Mrs………………
…………………..
…………………..
…………………..
……………………
Dear Mrs ……………..
Thank you for sending me a copy of your letter outlining your concerns about the situation in the vicinity of your home in ……. Road.
I certainly understand the concerns which you express and I have already been in contact with both Angus Council and Tayside Police regarding problems in the …… Road area and am awaiting responses to my enquiries.
I will also liaise with my Council colleagues regarding this situation and appreciate you contacting me in this way.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Welsh
MSP for Angus
ANDREW WELSH, MA (Hons), DipEd, Dip French
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Angus.
Gemma knows how many people have offered support and wanted me to include contact details for Andrew Welsh MSP and for John Vine Chief Constable for those of you who have asked. She is very grateful for everyone’s support and good wishes. As soon as there are any further developments, I shall let you all know.
Contact Details
Contact Details for Andrew Welsh MSP
Constituents can contact their MSP via these contact details

Constituency:
Andrew Welsh MSP
31 Market Place
Arbroath
Angus
DD11 1HR         Constituents and non-constituents can contact this MSP via these contact details

Parliament:
Andrew Welsh MSP
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

Telephone: 01241 439 369
RNID TypeTalk calls welcome
Fax: 01241 871561       
Fax: 0131 348 5677

Holyrood E-mail: Andrew.Welsh.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Constituency E-mail: sandra.thomson@scottish.parliament.uk

Contact Details
Contact Details Chief Constable, Mr John Vine
Chief Constable Mr John Vine, CBE, QPM, BA, MSc, FCIPD
Police Headquarters
PO BOX 59
West Bell Street
Dundee
DD19JU
MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE
Tags: disgarded needles, mental health, health
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360 no 13

    Entry for July 02, 2007, 360 import, Needle Injury
Jul 2, '07 3:08 PM
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THIS IS THE LETTER I HAVE SPENT TODAY WRITING ON BEHALF OF AND FROM A YOUNG MOTHER WHO LIVES IN THE SAME TOWN AS MYSELF. ITS CONTENTS ARE TRUE, THIS LETTER HAS BEEN SENT TO OUR MSP, OUR MP, 4 MEP’S, COUNCILLORS, THE LOCAL AUTHORITY HOUSING OFFICER AND THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSING. I JUST HOPE IT DOES SOME GOOD.

Dear Sir/Madam
My name is ******** ********and I am writing to ask for your help. I have had a terrible experience with my youngest child ******, who is only three years old. We live in Local Authority owned accommodation and at 12 noon on Friday 21st June 2007 she was playing in our garden without her shoes on. She trod on a used hypodermic needle discarded under her bedroom window in MY garden, presumably by a junkie.
Fortunately my sister was with me at the time because I was so distressed I found it difficult to telephone the emergency services and ask what I should do. My sister telephoned for me and was told to take the child DIRECTLY AND IMMEDIATELY to the Accident & Emergency unit at (A MAJOR HOSPITAL A&E UNIT). We were told not to take her to the local accident and emergency unit at ******** ******** as they would not have the expertise or experience to deal with this sort of injury in such a young child. We were asked to bring the needle with us for testing in case there were significant traces of any dangerous drug left in the needle that may have been injected into ******. ****** needed to be injected to protect her from the risk of developing HEPITITUS B , this is an extremely painful injection for an adult to have, it took three nurses to hold my three year old daughter down in order to administer this injection. She will need another two injections, all equally distressing and painful, over the course of the next few months. The staff at ********* was so kind and reassuring but even they were upset at such a small child having to have these painful injections. Due to her age and tiny size they had to investigate the exact dose of the drug needed, not one of the staff had ever had to give such a small child this injection before and none of them knew the dose needed. ****** also had her arm frozen and then bloods taken for analysis. We have been offered HIV testing and counselling, which I think for our future peace of mind we will go ahead with. Since this incident ****** has not slept well, she has nightmares and wakes screaming. We have a small two bedroom apartment and she shares a bedroom with her 5 year old brother who, due to her disturbed sleep, has been getting very little sleep himself. This makes him tired and miserable and consequently difficult at school. I am afraid to let them play outside even in their own garden and they are both becoming bored and overactive due to being cooped up indoors all of the time. My neighbour ****** ******, who lives at ** ***** ****, (right next door to me), is I believe well known to the police as a drug dealer. I have shared my concerns about this tenant with our housing officer Mrs ****** ****** on several occasions, Mrs ******’s response has always been ‘we will keep an eye on her’. But nothing has ever been done, either by the police or by the local authority, to stop this woman openly dealing drugs in an area of family housing. From my living room window I see a constant stream of very undesirable looking people wandering past my garden and entering her property. They come in two’s and three’s, sometimes they come alone. They only ever stay for a few short minutes and then they leave again. Some of them are so obviously drugged they are barley able to stand and completely unable to walk without staggering. I have witnessed cars pulling up, people coming out of her flat and what looks like large amounts of money changing hands through the driver’s car window. There have been fights, arguments, people screaming in the street in the early hours of the morning and a constant stream of drug addicts coming and going. There have been people screaming, banging on her door and threatening to kick the door down, and all of this happens openly and in an area full of families and young children. I believe the reason the junkies have taken to using MY garden to inject their drugs and discard their needles is because, in an attempt to protect my children, I paid a lot of money to have wooden fences build all around my garden. It now seems this has just provided a space for the junkies to inject their drugs without being seen from the street.
What I need, what my family needs it to be away from this drug seller and her customers who throw needles into my garden. If it really is impossible for the authorities to move her out of this area then PLEASE PURSUADE THEM TO MOVE ME, my children do not deserve to live like this. Both of my children are now so disturbed by the hospital experience, being cooped up indoors, the constant shouting and screaming from next door and the consequential lack of sleep, they need to move out of here. They also need a bedroom each, ****** is disturbed every night, she wets the bed, she has nightmares and she disturbs her brother because they both share the same room. I am writing to everyone I can think of who may be able to help because I am desperate and because I just can’t think of any thing else to do. Please do what ever you can to help me.
Yours sincerely
******** ******
NB. MP = Member of Parliament ( UK ), MSP = Member of the Scottish Parliament, MEP = Member of the European Parliament
Copies of this letter sent to all of the following
Mrs ******
Housing Officer
Mr ******
Director of Housing
, Local Councillor
, Local Councillor
, Local Councillor
, Local Councillor
Mr Andrew Welsh MSP
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Mr Mike Weir MP
House of Commons
Houses of Parliament
London
Mr Ian Hudghton MEP
The Tun
4 Jacksons Entry
Holyrood Road
-Edinburgh
EH8 8PJ
David Martin MEP
Address as above
Catherine Stihler MEP
Address as above
Alyn Smith MEP
Address as above


Tags: 360 import, health, mental health, disgarded needles
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The REAL state of the NHS

We are so lucky in this country to have the NHS. At the moment the media is full of horror stories about the failings of the NHS and no one, it seems, is recognising what a valuable service we have. I’m sure there are bits of it that could be improved, there’s room for improvement in every thing, but on the whole, I think it’s a great service and I’d like to see more people appreciate what we have.  The media and the government have a vested interest in presenting the NHS as flawed; they need justification for the proposed ‘reforms’ that would change forever the service most of us depend on. These greedy people at the top are manipulating the population into believing the only thing that can save the NHS is the introduction of profiteering and privatisation.  For every horror story thrust down our throats by the ever obliging media, there are hundreds and hundreds of ordinary people going about their daily lives who, with out this service would be dead. When all we see in the media is the constant drip, drip, drip of criticism, it’s easy to forget the true value of what we have. These stories are picked up on by the media, devoured by the public who love the opportunity to have a good moan about any thing, and then used as evidence for the ‘reforms’.

 I worked in the NHS for many years and I know how complaints can stem not from a poor service, but from a patient or relatives anxiety about what is happening to them. If you are terribly worried about something, a wait of a few weeks for an appointment to see a specialist seems like an eternity, in reality, even with private health insurance you would face a wait to see a specialist. When I worked on the wards, complaints from relatives about their elderly mother/ mother-inlaw/ sister or other relative were not uncommon. But the underlying cause was very often guilt that they had not been able to care for the relative themselves, anxiety about the diagnosis and treatment or sheer denial about the patients prognosis. I remember clearly one family who made an official complaint about the ward, citing neglect and ill treatment, because their 96 year old mother had died. The lady was admitted for terminal care, but the family were unable to accept that and needed someone to blame. The ‘good’ stories tend not to have the sensationalism of the government sponsored horror stories, the positive stories are told in quiet appreciation by ordinary people about experiences that changed their lives. The NHS is not a second class service used by poor people who can't afford to 'go private'. It is a service used, owned and paid for by all of us. Its not free, we pay for it, it doesn't belong to the government, it belongs to us, and its not the terrible service the government and media would have us believe. Many people in this country don't even think about 'private insurance', why should we when we have a perfectly good service that we pay for collectively, directly from out income.
Consider this scenario. A family are driving along the back roads from one town to another. Its not in the middle of no where but it is a rural location. The breaks fail, the car goes off the road, into a ditch, turns over and crashes into a tree. Luckily a farm worker sees what has happened and dials the emergency services. The police attend, make the area safe and divert the traffic, the ambulance service attend and paramedics assess the situation and give immediate first aid. The fire brigade attend because the driver needs to be cut out of the car. The paramedics in the ambulance transport the less injured mother and children to a local hospital. The driver is assessed as being more seriously injured and in need of emergency, specialist treatment. The paramedics arrange for an air ambulance to attend and lift the driver to a major hospital where a specialist surgical team are waiting to carry out life saving surgery. The car is a total write off and the insurance goes no where near compensating for the financial loss. Every member of the family survive and their bill is A BIG FAT ZERO. You think this is far fetched, it isn't, it happens more often than you would think.  I would like to say to my fellow Brits...........wake up,
stop moaning and appreciate what you have before you lose it.

I would like to see more reporting of the ‘good’ NHS stories; here are a couple of simple stories of simple sucsess.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/120874/Obama-s-stepmother-The-NHS-saved-my-life

Apparently the NHS saved the life of Obamas stepmother. She is quoted as saying; ‘“It’s very simple: I owe my life to the NHS. If it wasn’t for the NHS I wouldn’t have been alive to see our family’s greatest moment, when Barack became President.”

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2095620_praise_for_gps_who_understand_teenagers

Praise for GPs who understand teenagers
The University Medical Practice has received an award for its accessibility to young people.

American Health Care,

American Health Care

I need a little clarification. I’m probably going to regret this, at the very least I’m taking a bit of a risk, but after lots of consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion the only way I am going to understand this situation is to ASK.

This is the situation as I see it.
There are a whole lot of Americans who do not have access to health care. There are some proposals put forward by the present administration which are aimed at reforming the American health care system in order to give ALL Americans access to health care.

Support for these proposals is widely divided. People seem to either love them and consider them the salvation of Americas soul, OR; people seem to hate them and consider them an evil intrusion into the American way of life orchestrated by the devil himself.

Being a Brit; I’m not sure exactly what these proposals are, actually, I’m not exactly sure how the American health care system works (or doesn’t work).

This is what I would like.

• 1.    I would like to know what changes are proposed.
• 2.    I would like to know why you either support these changes or are against these changes
• 3.    If you are against these changes, I would like to know what alternative strategies you would implement in order ensure that Health care is available to all Americans.
• 4.    If you don’t believe that all Americans have a RIGHT to Health care, I respectfully ask you not to contribute.
  

This last requirement may seem a little odd and I apologise if you feel excluded by this. The reason I say this is because if this is truly your belief; that people living in a wealthy industrialised country have no basic right to health care, our ideologies are so far apart that we share no common ground on which to begin. Also because if you don't believe health care is a right you obviously have no argument or debate about how best to provide health care for every one.

PLEASE, be polite, be courteous and don’t let this get nasty.
Thanks, I am looking forward to understanding the issues here.

Natural cleaning for the home.

In my last ‘kitchen make-over’ blog I mentioned the air purifying spray I made to purify the air of toxic fumes left by decorating. After that I decided to take things a bit further and make more cleaning remedies from every day natural sources. I’m really taking the problem of toxic fumes and pollutants inadvertently caused by my kitchen make-over seriously and I’m trying to compensate by using as many natural products as possible. I know lots of people have collected recipes and natural remedies before but the ones I write about will only be ones I have made and used myself. 

My air purifying spray doesn’t just mask the smelly fumes in the way commercially produced air fresheners do, it purifies the air by using natures own ingredients. I used a 50/50 base of water and alcohol (vodka), with a generous amount of eucalyptus and lemon pure essential oils, it smells divine and the smell lingers all day. Apparently the spray lasts a lot longer if it has an alcohol base and the reason for using vodka is, it’s a pretty pure alcohol and has no smell of its own. What ever the reasoning behind it ………..the end result is really nice.
The second thing I decided to try was a glass cleaner.

I have a lot of glass in my house, picture frames, a fish tank and a glass fronted cabinet that houses my collection of green glass.

 It’s really easy, just a mix of 50/50 white vinegar and water then add some essential oil of lemon.  Spray it on, buff it off and it really works.

The smell of the lemon covers the smell of the vinegar and the glass sparkles.
To complete the trio I decided to try a wood furniture polish. I like old fashioned wooden furniture and have quite a lot of it in my house, but it does need looking after. I used good quality virgin olive oil and essential oil of lavender, it smell wonderful, cleans, polishes, protects and really brings out the grain of the wood.

Traditionally linseed oil is used for furniture but it has quite a distinctive smell that is more difficult to mask with essential oils than olive oil is.

Also, linseed oil would need to be bought especially for the furniture but every one  has olive oil in their cupboards so it is more convenient. All of these are natural, non toxic, efficient and inexpensive, and they make your home smell naturally nice!!

Healthy Mondays with Kathy, Heart Matters.

Heart Matters.

I seem to have a few minutes at the computer today and thought I’d pass on some of what I found in a leaflet at the GP surgery last week.
 It is a little book called Heart Matters and it’s produced free of charge by the British Heart Foundation. Apparently Heart disease is now the biggest killer in Scotland, scary thought.

www.bhf.org.uk

4 easy steps to protecting your heart

1.    Don’t overeat; Mother used to say finish what is on your plate and for people of my age who grew up with this philosophy stopping when you are full rather than when the plate is empty can be very, very difficult. But it must be done, most us of load more than we need on to our plates in the first place.

2.    Choose more fruit and veg; This one is quite easy for most of us ‘cos we DO enjoy our fresh food while those around us munch away on take a way fries, curry and processed pre-prepared food. But even I have my days when coffee and biscuits take over from a decent meal. When time is short temptation is high.
3.    Limit the fat; I thought this one was easy because I don’t eat meat and I only have low fat milk and yoghurt. Then I read the ingredients of what I thought were wholesome snacks, cereal bars and whole wheat biscuits. You may have guessed by now biscuits are my downfall, I was horrified to read how many grams of the bad, bad fats are in every biscuit.

4.    Go easy on the salt; Another one I thought was easy. I never add salt to my food and I don’t cook with salt. Then I began to think about my favourite meal, a huge bowl of wholesome veggie soup. Read the ingredients of the veggie stock cube and see how much salt is added. Even with out the veggie stock cube I do add salt to my soups, they just don’t taste the same with out. I thought it was ok’ cos I was adding sea salt or rock salt…………..apparently it’s all the same, salt is salt as far as diet is concerned. Salt intake should be less than 6 gm per day.
 
All of the above is especially difficult when eating out. The booklet suggests asking the kitchen how the food is prepared and asking for smaller portions if it is a restaurant known for the large size of its portions.

 And after the 4 diet tips there was a bit on exercise…………………think I probably get less exercise than most others but no matter how little a person can do any exercise is better than none.
I kept this little book and took it home  with me, most of what it contains is common sense and stuff we all do any way. But to have it all written down and to be reminded of the prevalence of heart disease is probably a good thing.



 

Healthy mondays, Pumpkin Soup,

PUMPKIN SOUP

 

I don’t usually write about cooking or recipes, mostly because if I cook I tend to make it up as I go along and not worry too much about the amounts. With soup I just chuck every thing in a pot and cook it. Not very scientific maybe but it generally works. BUT………………my pumpkin soup turned out very well and I have never made pumpkin soup before. I did it this time to use up the pumpkin I took out of the Halloween pumpkin head.  So here it is…………………..

I whole pumpkin chopped up

About 5-6  carrots

About 3-4 sticks celery

Sweet potato

One or two red onions

2 cloves garlic

1 small chilli

2 veg stock cubes

Dried or fresh chives

Small piece root ginger

Freshly ground black pepper

Ground sea salt or rock salt (not too much)

Simplicity itself, chop it all up, put it in a big pan and cook. Once all the veg was cooked through I blended it but you could eat it as a ‘chunky’ soup if you prefer. It was delicious, the chilli and ginger gave it a bit of a kick, very warming on these cold wintry days.

 

The Debate, McCain and his remarks

I keep hearing my self say this is not my problem, not my argument, not my debate…………………

WELL HELLO ………………..LOOK WHO JUST MADE IT MY DEBATE……………..

 

McCain: “Senator Obama wants to set up health care bureaucracies, take over the health care of America through -- as he said, his object is a single payer system. If you like that, you'll love Canada and England.

 

Before I rant about this man I need to clear up a technicality, Mr McCain, if you are hoping to be president of the most powerful country on earth maybe you should learn to get your political terminology correct. When you quoted ‘Canada and England’ I suspect you actually meant Canada and the UK. I can’t believe I need to spell this out to a presidential candidate, but for the record ;…. The UK consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. If you want to discuss, or even briefly mention, the health service of the UK it is inappropriate to address those remarks to or about ‘England’, this is a mistake of the politically inept and ignorant.

 

 

ONTO HIS OFFENSIVE REMARK.

 

I don’t know where to begin, how dare this man deride a health care system that provides unlimited health care, free at the point of delivery, to every man woman and child in the country? The provision of health care in this country, even the most pioneering and expensive health care, is allocated on the basis of medical need not on how good your insurance is or what your level of cover is. Or If Mr McCain had his way, if your employer decided to provide adequate health care cover.

 

I have a very dear friend who suffers the most terrible ill health. To my knowledge she has had two lots of open heart surgery and at least one other very new experimental heart procedure. She has had years and years of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid malfunction and a whole host of other medical problems. At no time during her years of illness was she ever asked demeaning questions about her financial situation or the limits of her health care cover. On the occasions when an ambulance was needed, one was called, arrived fairly quickly, and with out asking her who her insurance company was or sending her a bill, transported her as quickly and efficiently as possible to the world famous Ninewells Teaching hospital, Dundee. Here she received first class treatment which was FREE AT THE POINT OF DELIVERY. I have a horrible feeling if she lived under Mr McCain’s system she would no longer be with us; financially she is quite a poor woman who is unable to work.

 

I have arthritis; it was diagnosed a few years ago and is progressively getting worse. Over the last few years I have had, GP appointments, orthopaedic appointments,  ex-rays, physiotherapy and minor surgery all of which were provided under The National Health Service, again ‘FREE AT THE POINT OF DELIVERY’. The hospitals I have been fortunate enough to attend have, with out exception, been clean efficient and staffed by experienced professionally qualified doctors and nurses. I  have been offered  knee  replacement surgery as soon as I feel ready  to accept major surgery. All I need do is ask to be referred back to the surgeon.  My medical needs are assessed, thats is all, there is no other criteria.

 

Two of my grandchildren have spent time in special care baby units, they are quite well now but they had infant pneumonia when they were tiny babies, one when he was just a week old and the other just a week before his first birthday. These units are staffed with nurses who have specialist post graduate qualifications way beyond their first nursing degree. The ratio of nurse /patient is very, very high. At the change over of nursing shift the nurse in charge of my grandchild would make her self known to his mother so she knew who was responsible for her child at all times.  I don’t think these children would get any better care any where else in the world. Do I need to say it again?? ‘FREE AT THE POINT OF DELIVERY’’

 

I could go on, and on, but don’t worry I won’t. I’m not going to bore you with my niece and her ears, of my nephew and his stomach or my sister who has celiac disease, or my daughter who had childhood asthma and eczema, or the child at school who fell during a football match (the ambulance arrived within minutes of being called).   

I don’t deny we have problems in health care, every health care system has problems. Sure sometimes you need to wait a little while, and sometimes the hospitals are short of cash, and sometimes charities donate equipment but these are problems experienced by any system attempting to provide good health care. But I absolutely and with out reservation believe our National Health Service is among the best in the world. I don’t know any thing about Canada’s health care system but for it to be lumped together with ours I suspect it is good.

 

So Mr McCain, I repeat….how bloody dare you insult something your people can only dream of.

Healthy Monday..............how about some Art Therapy....it's good for you

Art therapy

I have suddenly realised how much there is out there on the net about ‘art therapy’, and I can’t help but think ….. what a wonderful idea. I think we should all indulge in a little Art Therapy now and again, I’m sure it would help us to de-stress and relax a bit more. All the images on this page have been produced in Art Therapy sessions, take a look, there is so much out there all you need to is put ‘Art Therapy’ in the search engine, you will be amazed. This is just to whet your appetite for more.

 

Art therapy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses art materials, such as paints, chalk and markers. Art therapy combines traditional psychotherapeutic theories and techniques with an understanding of the psychological aspects of the creative process, especially the affective properties of the different art materials.

As a mental health profession, art therapy is employed in many clinical settings with diverse populations. Art therapy can be found in non-clinical settings as well, such as in art studios and in workshops that focus on creativity development. Closely related in practice to marriage and family therapists, many art therapists are certified additionally as MFTs. Art therapists work with children, adolescents, and adults and provide services to individuals, couples, families, groups, and communities.

 

Complementary Healthcare Information Service - UK

The use of art has always been used for self-expression and to convey ideas and emotions that are difficult to describe verbally. It's potential as a therapeutic tool became apparent after World War 2 when survivors of the war used art in hospitals and rehabilitation centres to help to overcome the traumas they had experienced. Art Therapy is a non-verbal way of revealing deeper emotions that may not otherwise be clearly expressed.

READ MORE HERE

 

http://www.chisuk.org.uk/bodymind/whatis/arttherapy.php

 

 

 

NHS art therapy for schizophrenia

Emma Wilkinson

Health reporter, BBC News Government advisers are expected to recommend art therapy on the NHS for people with schizophrenia.

The National Institute of Clinical and Health Excellence (NICE) will promote use of programmes offering music, art and dance therapy for the first time.

READ MORE HERE

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7612901.stm