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