Porridge for Breakfast, The Ordinary Life of a TTP Survivor

Two friends each sent me a text today asking if I wanted to walk. It was a truly lovely day,  bright and sunny with little wind.  How lucky I am to have friends that share my love of the open spaces and are prepared to reach out like this.  We all three walked together 🙂. One of our favourite places to visit locally is the Millennium Walk at Great Wood, Selworthy. The Millennium Walk is one of many sites in Somerset where you can view our beautiful bluebells.  They are protected in the UK, it’s illegal to pick, uproot or destroy them.  Quite right too, they are endangered and a part of our heritage. We have become members of the National Trust, not necessarily to visit grand houses, but to help protect the land which they own.  And quite a bit of land is owned by the Trust around here. The Walk is relatively easy to access, although there are gates and muddy paths to tackle.  If you are reasonably mobile, like me, it’s fine.  Thanks to On The Go ...

I’ve said I love April many times.  It’s follows March, of course, a month of wind and rain.  This winter seems to have lasted forever and we all looked forward to spring.   This year, though, the rain seems to have continued and Storm Noa did a fair amount of damage to our blossom.  It’s been a trying time for the gardeners so far. It’s been a bit of a week appointment wise too with two scheduled at the hospital and one at the dentist.  All three are thankfully ok, no emergency phone calls about my April blood test, my heart rhythm has settled sufficiently not to need a 2nd Cardioversion, even if temporarily, and the dentist was so gentle and kind I didn’t worry quite so much about one of my back teeth crumbling 🤔  It’s all good! Our garden is looking great though, if still calling out for attention.  The weather has stopped me getting out there very much but our trees and good old perennials are giving some colour. The rhubarb is a favourite in our ...

It’s  Easter 2023 and finally we have a few consequently sunny days.   It’s too good to waste.  I’m signed up for an End To End  Artic Virtual Walking Challenge to the North Pole and it’s been slow going so far!  It’s time to step up before the weather changes again. We started from the village of Washford, they kindly allow walkers to park in the village hall car park when spaces permit, for a small donation.   It’s a pretty little village, and I’d never really seen it off the main road before I discovered this walk.  Coming out of the car park you walk a short distance to the left, as far as the school, and then the path goes off to the right.  It is signposted. As can be seen on the On The Go Map, it’s a fairly straight route.  I measured 4.71 miles as a return journey. Because it’s an old disused railway line, it’s also fairly flat, making it a popular cycling route too. There were definite signs of Spring. It runs along side the West Som...

It's been a long winter.  It's rained and rained, the sky seems to have been grey forever.   When a family member suggested a short break in Malaga I said yes immediately.   I haven't been abroad since my last full relapse and if left to my own devices the thought wouldn't have occurred to me.  It was a great decision,  to go find some blue sky, to go with family, to go and have some fun. Blood tests done and all pristine,  I was confident all would be fine.   Insurance is a must and I was slightly annoyed that the insurance provided by the monthly payment to my bank would no longer cover me, maybe because of additional health conditions since covid.  We searched online and found a one off deal to cover the break.  The bank is another issue to be faced. I had an idea in my head of what to expect in Malaga, and it wasn't entirely correct.   We stepped off the Easy Jet flight to warmth and sunshine,  just enough at...