Reflection...ascension from Karen

Van Morrison from Hymns to the Silence
Take me back, take me way, way, way back
On Hyndford Street
Where you could feel the silence at half past eleven
On long summer nights
As the wireless played Radio Luxembourg
And the voices whispered across Beechie River
In the quietness as we sank into restful slumber in the silence
And carried on dreaming, in God
And walks up Cherry Valley from North Road Bridge, railway line
On sunny summer afternoons
Picking apples from the side of the tracks
That spilled over from the gardens of the houses on Cyprus Avenue
Watching the moth catcher working the floodlights in the evenings
And meeting down by the pylons
Playing round Mrs. Kelly's lamp
Going out to Holywood on the bus
And walking from the end of the lines to the seaside
Stopping at Fusco's for ice cream
In the days before rock 'n' roll
Hyndford Street, Abetta Parade
Orangefield, St. Donard's Church
Sunday six-bells, and in between the silence there was conversation
And laughter, and music and singing, and shivers up the back of the neck
And tuning in to Luxembourg late at night
And jazz and blues records during the day
Also Debussy on the third programme
Early mornings when contemplation was best
Going up the Castlereagh hills
And the cregagh glens in summer and coming back
To Hyndford Street, feeling wondrous and lit up inside
With a sense of everlasting life
And reading Mr. Jelly Roll and Big Bill Broonzy
And "Really The Blues" by "Mezz" Mezzrow
And "Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac
Over and over again
And voices echoing late at night over Beechie River
And it's always being now, and it's always being now
It's always now
Can you feel the silence?
On Hyndford Street where you could feel the silence
At half past eleven on long summer nights
As the wireless played Radio Luxembourg
And the voices whispered across Beechie River
And in the quietness we sank into restful slumber in silence

Random days

Butlins
Woburn
Butlins
Butlins
Norwich

Woburn Safari Park

Most animal photos had to be taken through double-glazed bus window. If you go to Woburn Safari Park take your own food! £7 for Cornish Pastie and chips!

Hubbie doggy dogg

Treacle gets it hubbie style and hubbie
gets it doggy-style!

Rosa the Genius!

The beautiful, talented, gifted,
stubborn, forthright Rosa Crawford!
She's the one in the middle (Nikki on left and Jim (Rosa's brother) on right in Italy. A well-deserved vacation Rosa and see you soon xxxx

Anniversary

Twenty one years married today.
And some said it wouldn't last!

Thirty first of August

Hi folks and folkettes.
I have a big birthday coming up on 31 august. It's a bit scary knowing that more than 75% of my life has passed by.
I don't need or want any pressies, cards, surprises or parties but if you would like to make a donation to one of the following charities this would make me very happy:

www.hypermobility.org
www.northnorfolkdifferentstrokes.org.uk
www.ukfibromyalgia.com

Love Tabitha xx

For Christine

Christine...you make me laugh, you make me cry, you make me smile, you make me wonder, you play. Who else could get me to dress up as a slug and nibble on a giant marrow? Who else makes tea in tea cups instead of builder's mugs? Who else has the strength to pull the door of a VW van and hold it up for thirty minutes?
Christine, who despite the most tragic of childhoods, still holds onto life with the tenacity of a small village. Christine - the artist, the author, the lover of all animals, the red of hair, the fighter, the lovely. What a gift you are to the world and all who know you. You will recover from your operation soon.
How brave you are to have gone through that - I understand your fear of all things medical but you did it, you did it - all on your own - you did it - and you will go on to do so much more. I love you.

My hypermobile ankles

I can turn my left foot all the way round as well but hubbie feels faint when I do it. I popped my sacro-iliac joint in the other day and he said 'what the hell was that' (by the way the sacro-iliac joint is meant to be an unmovable joint - they lied).

Frustrated artist

Am frustrated with sketching and drawing and painting. I can't seem to find my style - or maybe it is evolving as I go along. I can't find the medium to work with. When I work with oils I wish I had used inks, when I work with inks I wish I had used pastels. I'm usually working on the wrong paper. These two sketches are when hubbie and I visited Brittany - that's him and me on the seat watching the wind surfers. My criticism - the colours are all wrong - painting with a British eye for colouration. England's light is grey whereas Brittany is a beautiful heathery pink - so I have to add more pinkish and mauvish hues

Charlie Powell RiP

Charlie was buried two days ago. Thirty two years old. Known him since he was 14. Strange thing the memory - all little images have come flooding back. Sitting on his bed with Clare (his sister) giggling at who knows what, being chased around the garden by Charlie with a hosepipe at Christmas, drinking vodka and throwing up and cleaning up the sick, with all his mates in Sheringham, his struggle with drink and drugs, still loved him even though he once called me a c+nt, food fights in his mum's kitchen, always laughing. What a tragic end to a life half-lived.

World Stroke Day

World Stroke Day 2010
Friday, 29 October is World Stroke Day.

Every six seconds, regardless of age or gender – someone somewhere will die from stroke. This is more than a public health statistic. These are people, who at one time, were someone’s sister, brother, wife, husband, daughter, son, partner, mother, father or friend. Behind the numbers are real lives. The World Stroke Organization (WSO) is calling for action to address this epidemic by launching the One in Six campaign on World Stroke Day, 29 October.

The One in Six campaign celebrates the fact that stroke be prevented and stroke survivors may recover to regain their quality of life with appropriate long-term care and support. The campaign aims to reduce your chances of having a stroke by your acting on six easy challenges: 1. Know your personal risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, and high blood cholesterol. 2. Be active and exercise regularly. 3. Avoid obesity by keeping to a healthy diet. 4. Limit alcohol 5. If you smoke, seek help to stop now. 6. Learn to recognize the warning signs of a stroke.

Stroke is the second leading cause of death for people above the age of 60, and the fifth leading cause in people aged 15 to 59. Stroke also attacks children, including newborns. Each year, nearly six million people die from stroke. Stroke is responsible for more deaths each year than AIDS, TB and malaria put together.

North Norfolk Different Strokes (NNDS) is the only stroke group for younger stroke survivors of working age, their carers, family and friends in North Norfolk. We need your help to continue this much valued group which has increased in membership by 200% since its inception. NNDS rely entirely on grants and donations. Next year will be more difficult due to cuts in funding. We are your local support and social group for stroke survivors, their carers, family and friends - our committee comprises of two stroke survivors and one carer. If you would like to know more about us, make a donation or have a fund-raising idea, then visit our website on www.northnorfolkdifferentstrokes.org.uk

Thank you.

and then it was my turn!

First the tattooist (from Tikitiu in Paris, France) draws a placement spot
Sorry out of order but this is the end result
The tattoo is covered in vaseline, clingfilm (which can be removed after two hours)
The hygiene standards of this particular tattooist were incredibly high. He changed his gloves every time something else was touched and all needles were from unopened packages.
When he started to tattoo me all I felt was a slight scratch and then I started to doze off - he thought I had fainted and came round to see if I was okay! I actually fell asleep. I am so please with the result that I am going to visit them in Paris - they specialise in their own culture's (French Polynesian) tattoos. The tattoo I chose is the symbol for a turtle and means hope, peace, someone who is not afraid to stick their neck out but also likes to withdraw into their shell from time to time. Very apt. I also chose it to be just above my right ankle so it is very earthed.

Norwich Body Art Festival

Oh well-may as well make a collection!

Yesterday I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome. I am so glad I never had children to pass any of these conditions onto.

Fibromyalgia: characterized by chronic widespread pain and a heightened and painful response to pressure. Other symptoms include debilitating fatigue, sleep disturbance and joint stiffness. I also have difficulty with swallowing, numbness and tingling. Fibromyalgia is estimated to affect 2–4% of the population, with a female to male incidence ratio of approximately 9:1 (lucky men!).

Evidence from research conducted the last three decades has revealed abnormalities within the central nervous system caused by childhood stress - me, childhood stress - NAH! Wait until the book comes out!

Random days

Baby pigeon breast yum yum!
Chair Sheringham prom
Hubbie and Grania
Another cat present
A car I would consider marrying - Tabitha Mustang - has a certain ring to it!

RiP John and Charlie Powell

I was so shocked to hear of the deaths today of John Powell and his son Charlie. I have known them for about 15 years. John Powell was a man of great generosity - his house, his food, his money was yours - his door was always open.
Charlie I have known since he was 11 - a little rebel - saw him grow up through his teens - even more of a rebel - then he started to work for his dad and calmed down a lot.
They leave behind Barbara (wife and mum) and Clare (daughter and sister) and all the people who loved them and were loved by them.
Charlie - too young, too young. John - keep on trucking.
More stars in the sky.
Photo: John and Barbara when they first married

Not so simple August

August is a difficult month for me. So many memories packed into one month. The birthday of my hubbie's mama (now RiP), my first marriage, my first divorce, my half-brother's birthday, my second marriage, the death of my hubbie's father and then my birthday.

So a bit up and down.

I have been thinking a lot about my hubbie's mama and I can only really remember a few occasions when I met her.

The first memory is in 1980 and the first time I had set foot into a Dutch household.

Because of my work we were encouraged not to mix with the 'locals' and, even though they didn't know it then, but they will now - each member of my hubbie's family over the age of 21 was security checked. Neither of my hubbie's parents spoke English and I had just started to learn Dutch.

Hubbie's mama was very quiet, she was wearing a blue dress with little flowers on and her hair was short and wavy. She had prepared a supper of endive, potatoes and balletje gehaakt - she wasn't the best of cooks but it was good homely food. After supper she made tea in a teapot and forgot to put the tea in.

The second memory is probably a lot of New Year's celebration rolled into one. I used to go to Okkernootstraat. They lived in a maisonette with two balconies and I remember thinking how small it was and couldn't believe that six children had been made and brought up there. New Year's Eve is fantastic in The Hague.

People drag their Christmas trees to crossroads and make huge bonfires - sometimes even bicycles, car tyres and furniture get chucked on. I used to stand at the window and feel the glass - it was red hot - and watch the flames rise higher and higher. Sometimes Papa van der Does would play the organ and sing. He had a lovely voice and had travelled widely with a Dutch choir.

The third memory is when hubbie's parents came to supper with me. One of the vegetables I made was corn on the cob - not good when both parents had false teeth and that corn on the cob in The Netherlands is considered to be pig food! but they survived!

I think I noticed before anyone else that something was fading from hubbie's mum - being an outsider it is easier to see. She was withdrawn, forgetful and always kind but there was a vagueness about her that was so apparent to me. Sadly I was right and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

I can't remember the year or date she died but I always remember her birthday on 5 August. I have visited her grave three times where she is buried with Papa van der Does and love to listen to hubbie's stories about Mama van der Does.

The simple things in life

A cup of tea and a custard cream biscuit in the waiting room at Cromer Hospital
Meeting up with someone I hadn't seen for at least three years
Egg and chips with Grania on the prom overlooking the sea
Watching hawkmoths devouring nectar from the buddleia at dusk
Listening to the dog snore
Watching my cats leap like hares in the garden trying to catch buttterflies

...and death

Sadly our dear friend Elspeth died. She was 94 - a woman who devoted her life to homeopathy and never took an allopathic medicine or consulted a doctor in her life.
She had a stroke a number of weeks ago and was subjected to uncaring treatment at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and subsequently ended up with bed sores which became putrid.
Happily she was moved into the caring hands of Halsey House, Cromer where she was treated with courtesy and respect.
Her life ended peacefully in the company of her son and daughter.
Elspeth was a woman of great strength of character, of enormous intellect and a huge heart.
I will miss her 'phone calls, her conviction and her joy for life.
Shine on dear Elspeth....I will see you twinkle in the sky tonight.

Daantje

I am an aunty-in-law again and Kees is an uncle.
Little Daan was born six weeks early on Monday and had to be in intensive care as he could not work his little lungs independently ..... but thank the Cosmos they are working independently now.
So Daan becomes the brother of Mila, the son of Gerry and Carmen and the grand-child of Carla and Gert