wagwaan?

RIP Uncle Ray

My dear Uncle passed away peacefully this morning.  I am glad he was at home, with his wife beside him, when he went.  It's very sad but in the event rather quick, considering he was quite a hale-and-hearty 80-something until very recently, when a recurrence of his bowel cancer sent him to hospital. I think nearly all, if not all, my siblings will be coming to the UK for the funeral, as we are all very close to our Bristol cousins, and we want to pay our respects. May he rest in peace.
In other news, I got my back-payment yesterday, and a nice big sum it was too. Not big enough to retire on, but hey!   Most of it is spoken for, and with Christmas coming up I have plenty of potential purchases lining up... The weird thing is, last night I did some late night shopping with DD for some well-needed clothes, and an outfit for the work "do" next week, but I hated parting with the money!  It's like I've had to be so tight with money for so long, I am scared of being in the same position again, and therefore want to hold on to my money for as long as possible. And I thought I'd go on a mad spending spree.....
Well, must rush. DD is expecting me at the late-night Christmas shopping extravaganza that is Victorian Evening, but it's raining, so I've just been finishing some stuff at work. Off I go :)

Giving thanks

I know we don't "do" Thanksgiving in England, and anyway it was last week, but I've been offering up little silent prayers of thanks to the powers above for my not-perfect-but-I-love-it life, my family, my mother's health etc.  Especially as two people I care about appear to be nearing the end of their respective battles with cancer and it just doesn't seem fair that they should have to suffer so much.  I feel even more blessed because this year the outcome of my surgery could have been so, so different...  So let us all be thankful for our imperfect lives as long as we have health and an alert mind, and let us not dwell so much on what we would like to change but just get on and live life to the full each and every day. That's what we are on Earth for, isn't it? 

Love these guys!

Watched this show tonight, and I was laughing out loud at this bit. You have to listen to the words especially!  Enjoy....

Mmmmmmm!

I've been busy all morning - doing the laundry and cooking. I've had roast pork, roast potatoes and peas (the crackling wasn't done, so it's still in the oven, separately), and I finished with the delicious rice pudding I found here. I've never made it with basmati before, and I've never done it on the stove top as I usually use my mother's recipe which is an oven-baked one. There are pros and cons to both: the oven-baked one produces brown skin, which some people like but I loathe, but you can leave it in the oven to cook by itself. The stove-top one takes for ever, with lots of stirring to make sure it doesn't burn/stick/overcook, but it doesn't have a skin and even as you leave it to cool you can cover the top with clingfilm to prevent skin forming.  I didn't have any vanilla essence today, so I used up the last of my vanilla sugar. It's truly delicious and I shall look forward to having it cold tonight.... Don't ask me how many calories the darn thing contains - even though I  used semi-skimmed milk I still think it's rather calorific! It looks good though:

I've eaten alone because DD has gone off to London with her best friend, supposedly to do Christmas shopping but they might pop into the Finnish Church Christmas bazaar as well... Best friend decided a few years ago that she would go and live in Finland one day, so both girls are pretty enamoured of all things Finnish. Or Finlandish as I call it. It annoys my teen, which is a parent's prerogative hehehe.
I'm now catching up with some blog-reading and wish-list building. I'm planning my Christmas crafts, which I have to wait until next weekend to start, and I have quite a list already. I love Martha Stewart's website; she always has plenty of ideas. Well, let's say her team has plenty of ideas!  I want to make this, as a change from the sweetie-wreath that I have usually made in the past. I have found a good source of supplies on e-bay, or I might pop into Hobbycraft next weekend. We'll see. Not having a car limits the shopping to places that are served by public transport. Internet shopping is much easier but time is short now.
Well, I'm feeling quite rested so I should really start lugging furniture around now. I promised myself I would move the bookcase from the dining room to the living room to make space for my new dresser, even though it isn't painted yet.  It will all get done. Just give me some time....

World peace?

Just a quickie to say, why haven't I heard of this before?  While having my lunch today I read an interview on Oprah's website with Richard Branson, and I was moved to tears. He and Peter Gabriel had the idea that if the world is a global village we need global elders. Go check out the site to see what I mean. I want to get involved and pass it on, as it just seems the most wonderful idea, and I hope it is hugely successful.  Read the interview with Branson here.

Not long now...

... till Christmas!  Can  you believe it??  Just over a month, and I've hardly started on the presents. Time was, I had it all done and dusted by about now.  I'd start in September, but then, I didn't have a child and such a busy job. That's my excuse anyway.  Hopefully, next week I get my back pay from the hospital (it's been confirmed in writing) and I can pay the bills and then start on my present making in earnest. And wrapping, and Christmas card writing, and ticket-to-France buying.  Such a lot to do!   I'm in a kind of limbo at the moment and it's not too pleasant, so roll on pay day.
Nite nite.

So cool!

Just love the latest John Lewis advert for Christmas. Brilliant :)

Children in Need 2007

Once again, we had a fun evening in front of the box Friday, watching Children in Need.  I think old Terry Wogan is getting a bit past it, but there are still a lot of class acts on the show. My absolute favourite was some of the ladies from the cast of Holby City doing "Respect" by Aretha Franklin. Not many people can pull it off, but Sharon D Clarke did a fantastic job!  Check it out here.

More things on my wish list

I've spent most of the day creating flat everyday cards for my etsy shop, and now I'm printing them up.  While I wait for the printer to do its thing, I'm checking out some books I'd like to get...  Here are the first two:

I can't believe the amount of controversy surrounding the first one!  Anyway, it's on my list of books to buy. Along with the second one there - I adore Cathy Z and I already have one of hers; I've been meaning to buy this one, but I've not got round to it yet.
Another thing I need to get is a proper sewing machine - DD has a 1927 Singer that is absolutely the coolest thing, but it's not the best for sewing projects. I really want to get back into making clothes and I have ideas for other stuff for my "shoppette", so a machine is on my list.  And some books to go with it:

   

So much stuff I want to make!

Well, time to make dinner, and then tomorrow when there is some daylight, I will take pictures of my cards to upload to the shop. A demain!

Drugs are good!

Well, a couple of days ago I had my second appointment with the rheumatologist at the Hospital - I asked to be re-referred because my arthritis had been getting progressively worse since the Spring.  I have had x-rays and blood tests and the consultant saw that my joints were quite inflamed. Anyway, to cut a long story short, he decided to give me a steroid shot, saying that if I experienced "miraculous" relief it would confirm that my arthritis is indeed inflammatory (and due to my psoriasis) and that he would then re-start me on Methotrexate. So I offered the top of my buttock up to his needle and went on my way. 
All I can say is WOW!  Since yesterday, and especially today, I have noticed that my ankles, knees and hips especially are a lot looser and pain-free. In fact, tonight I walked down the escalator after work and positively SKIPPED off the train when I arrived at my destination. That's when it really hit me.  I had thought I was just getting terribly unfit and old, and was especially concerned about the effect of my weight on my joints, but it would appear that it is indeed the inflammation causing the problems.  I'm very happy because if I go back on the Methotrexate I will also see an improvement in my psoriasis, which is excellent news! The effects of the steroid shot should last 6 weeks, so I'm good until the New Year. Wonderful!