Remember last year when I was patiently waiting for to take a picture of my favourite blossom tree outside the flat and before it came into blossom I was rudely interrupted from carrying out my picture taking task by a pesky heart attack?  Well that occurred last year on the Spring Bank holiday.  When I came out of hospital the blossom was just about beginning to flower but of course I was not in any fit state for a week or so to go out with my camera so the outcome was I didn’t get my photograph of my favourite in blossom at all, because by the time I felt up to it, the blossom had gone.

This year, what a difference!  We are still in April and my favourite tree is now in full bloom!  It is always the last blossom to flower compared to the light pink and white blossom, but it is a full month earlier than last year!  I am hoping that this is an indication that we are now going to get a much better summer weather wise than last year.  So here is my favourite blossom and no, I can’t explain why I prefer this one to the others. I love to see all the Spring blossom, but this colour being a deep pink is just so rich and attractive. I look forward to seeing it in full bloom every year.

TG 

This is just a post for fun and to illustrate to Tracey how you don’t have to spend a penny to be able to show your pictures at their best by using Live Photo Gallery and Live Writer.

All I have done with the pictures in Live Gallery is pump up the brightness a little bit and the contrast.

Now I am going to put them into here. So let’s put the first one in shall we?

  It looks very nice but I think we can make it look even more attractive in Writer. First of all Tracey I am going to ‘put a border around it for you in Writer. How? Just look on the right hand side of the Writer screen, click on your picture, then make sure that the PICTURE tab is chosen, see that BORDERS?  Where it says ‘DROP SHADOW? Well just click on that to see a drop down Menu where you can now choose INSTANT PHOTO. Click on that Tracey. Now see how you picture will have a white border around it just like a Polaroid picture. It helps it to stand out on the page. But Tracey I want you to also try the other things out from that drop down Menu as well. You won’t spoil anything because you can always put it back to the one you like best. Try them all. Be adventurous!

Now this one is actually part of Writer now but….. you can’t write on it like you can on the plug in Polaroid!  So let’s try that one shall we?  See that Add a plug-in at the bottom of the Menu list?  Just click on it Tracey. You will instantly be transported up to the Writer Gallery where just third plug-in down from the top you should see the Polaroid plug-in.  Click on download Tracey and don’t worry when it warns you during the installation, its quite safe, I use it all the time.

Once its downloaded, it will now appear in the Menu list inside Writer. Now you can try this plug in out as well. To use it Tracey  in your blog, just click on the Polaroid Picture plug-in.

It will then take you to all of your picture files in a window so just choose the picture that you want to use with Polaroid picture. I am going to choose one of your other pictures this time to show it off.

Now you will see a different type of surround around the photo Tracey but you are not done yet!  Click on the picture and an entirely different Menu will appear with different choices in it. The top choice is all about size, you can choose a different size for your Polaroid. I’ll leave mine at small. Under that it says CAPTION. So try writing something in that area below. I am going to type in ‘Spring Blossom’ in mine. Hmm, nothings happened. Well I have to tick ‘show caption’ to enable it. Now you should see your words that you typed in show underneath the picture. I am also going to change the font to one of my favourites. 

Yes that looks okay but what does ‘Tilt’ mean? Well try it out. Just slide the slider either to the left or to the right and just see what happens! You will see that you picture gets ‘tilted’ to the left or right depending on your choice. And what about the other choice underneath? The one that is called ‘Style’ what does that do? Well, try it Tracey! It places some ‘corners’ on your picture so that it looks as if it is actually fastened in a photo album. I will add some red ones to mine. Like it? But you can do so much more Tracey to your pictures in Writer! Let’s try some more things out.

Put a picture into Writer.

  Now let’s try some of the other things out. Click on the picture to bring the picture menu up, then under borders, click on the small black arrow and choose the bottom choice ‘Solid 3 pixels. Now your picture is surrounded by a black surround which is three pixels wide. You can choose the other one above it if you prefer just a thinner border. I am going to make my picture larger so I will click on ADVANCED in the picture menu, then where it says WIDTH and HEIGHT I am going to change the number in the WIDTH box from 240 to 350. I don’t need to alter the HEIGHT because that will automatically change because I have it set to ‘LOCK RATIO’ so that will automatically adjust. Whilst I have this advanced choice open I am also going to change the text of the picture so that when anyone reading my blog clicks on the picture they will see the text. I will put Pink Blossom in the box under OTHER and alternate text..

Let’s see what CONTRAST does.  Ahh that looks better! I pumped up the brightness by 5 and the contrast by 10!  Let’s try something else. See that ACTIONS?  Well we can TILT the picture here as well, so let’s try that shall we?  Again, we have tilted the picture and the words (if you are using word wrap) will move out the way.

Now I am going to load up the last of your pictures Tracey and try out our last things on it.

I have set it firstly to the right hand side of my text. Hmm, let’s try some of the effects shall we?

I’ve made it 400 width this time, and now I am going to click on the very last tab available. So click on your picture to bring up the picture menu, then click on the effects tab. Let’s try them all out! Click on the green cross and then choose Black and White. Your picture will instantly change to black and white inside your blog area! This is what I love about Writer you instantly see just what your post is going to look like! Hmm,that’s nice but I will try something else, how about sharpen? Wow! that looks affective! No how this EFFECT work is this. If you don’t like any effect that you have applied, you just remove it by choosing it and then clicking on the red minus sign. Clever eh? So now I have applied Sharpen and Adjust temperature, but removed Black and White by clicking on it and then clicking on the red minus sign to remove it.

Tracey try different things out with you pictures in Writer, you can’t spoil anything and if you make a mess of it, just don’t bother publishing it and just delete the Draft. Its that simple!

Hope that this post has been some help to show you just how versatile and clever Writer is. Its more than a WYSIWYG writing tool, it has now become a  brilliant photo manipulation tool as well! And don’t forget to give the Photo Album feature a try as well!

TG 

Yes, I know! Your all fed up of reading about my recycling woes but I promise that this is my last rant about it, okay?  On the ball Technogran had all her receptacles out as instructed at 07.00am yesterday morning and waltzed back into the flat feeling smug and cocky. No sign of anyone else, ha! First again! Noticed later that morning that the close neighbours hadn’t put the same out as me. No green bag, just the slop bucket (caddy) white sack (plastic bottles) and the black box (glass jars, wine bottles etc)

Swift check of Week A’s collection instructions.   Oops!  Got it wrong!  So rushed down the stairs, outside in the pouring rain with the correct black box and brought the incorrect green bag (now soaking wet) back inside. Hmm.

Now the instructions state quite clearly that we householders MUST have the containers waiting to be collected by 07.00am on our designated day of collection.  So of course I obeyed and most of the neighbours weren’t all that far behind this week I have to admit. The day wore on. The rain came down. The black box slowly filled with rainwater. The green bag did the same. The sack has a velcro closure so that was at least immune.  K arrived home.  We decided because of the inclement weather we wouldn’t be going down to exercise class.  We ate our tea.  I asked her if the containers had been emptied yet. (She can see them from her bedroom window.) ‘No Mum, they're still there!’

Guess what time they finally showed up to empty the containers?  19.00pm!  12 hours late!  I brought everything back in and it was all wet through! I had to put the black box and the slop bucket (caddy) in the shower and give it a good dose of cleaner and bleach then leave it overnight. (For those of you who at this point can’t understand anyone  in their right mind putting a black box and brown caddy into a shower, you must realise that we have no bath in this flat in which to place such receptacles in order to give them a thorough clean, so the shower cubicle has to suffice.)

I had to do this anyway because the food caddy absolutely stank. The plastic bags that we are issued with to use in these food caddy’s in order to put all your waste food into are biodegradable which largely explains why both caddy’s state in big letters on their sides, NO PLASTIC BAGS. Its a special kind of material but…….as your left over food and raw uncooked food ages a few days, it begins to ferment. These special biodegradable bags do NOT contain the aroma despite fastening them really tightly at the top.  And so the food caddy smelled absolutely awful!  It really should be stored outside either next to the wheelie bin or on top of it, but of course after my black box went for a walk and never returned, I am very reluctant to place it outside in case that does a disappearing act as well. Of course the answer is to put our flat number on it in large white numbers and hope that it will then deter any would be caddy thief.  I shall have to find a solution because I know this, I can’t keep it inside the flat during the warm summer months in the heat!  K and I will never survive the smell! We will be found both overcome by fumes!

And if the collectors continue to not appear until 19.00pm during the hot summer months, then the whole estate will no doubt be overcome!  We will all have to go out wearing gas masks! Its a good job that the lid locks (it says to keep dogs and animals out, but I doubt they would touch it with a six foot barge pole as it really smells rancid, and K and I don’t have all that much left over food compared to other households.  Well let’s face it, I am the only one in this household who ever leaves anything!)  Yes, I know what you are all now thinking, well don’t put it out until the afternoon.  Ahh!  But remember Technogran’s law?   As soon as I leave it until later  in the day, they’ll arrive at 07.00am and I’ll be back to my old habit of  flying down the stairs with containers clutched in both hands and shouting out ‘Hey, wait for me!’

TG     I promise that’s my very last moan about recycling…..

As is usual whenever we are about to set off on one of these day trips I didn’t sleep at all well, and was wide awake before the alarm had a chance to set off at 04.45am.  A quick shower, wake daughter up from slumber, pack bag with food and drinks for our ‘on board the train’ lunch, a quick run through of our ‘must take with us’  and ‘don’t forget’ list before our exit out of the door at 06.00am and into the waiting taxi.

On arrival at our  local station we found that we were the first arrivals but we were soon joined by others with merry greetings and hopes of a nice day weather wise. The Green Express arrived slightly early at 6.30am and we all quickly climbed on board and made our way down to our respective carriages to take our seats.  We were in carriage D which was roughly half way down the train . Of course as its mostly the same people who tend to go on these  railtours, everyone tends to know everyone else even if you don’t meet up on other occasions apart from these excursions, so there were lots of ‘Hello, how have you been?’ and ‘Hey nice to see you again, we wondered if you would be going today!’ greetings taking place at every pick up point. 

We had a very pleasant journey down to Bath and kept fairly to time which is no mean feat as a train such as this has to be ‘fitted in’ amongst the normal traffic on the railways which of course must take precedence at all times. This often results during our journey of us having to stop and wait whilst the normal trains run through.  We  arrived in Bath at precisely the allotted time on our ‘timetable’ which every passenger is given when they board so that you can wile away the long journey checking off at each point along the route whether or not we are running ‘in front or behind’ the allotted time stated.

On arrival, we all piled off at Bath station clutching in our hands our 10% off leaflets for the Bath tour buses, and made our way out and along the road to where the tour buses were all parked waiting.  K and I had  decided to visit the Jane Austen Centre first, so we rode on the Tour bus until it reached that point and then we got off.  By now it was really warm, and we didn’t need to wear our coats at all the whole time we were there.  We had a good tour around the Jane Austen Centre (although I have to confess I was a trifle disappointed in this and wished we had stayed on the tour bus and continued on to the Abbey and the Roman Baths.)

We then got back on a tour bus (you can ‘hop on and hop off these tour buses with the same ticket) and had a very interesting and  pleasant journey around some of the very attractive Georgian buildings to be seen in Bath and then we disembarked at the stop outside the  Abbey and Roman Baths, but by now we were having to do some ‘clock watching’ as we had only been allocated about three and a half hours to spend in Bath. It actually sounds a lot, but when you haven’t visited a place before and therefore don’t know what you have time to incorporate during your visit, it just isn’t long enough.  I had hoped to visit the Abbey AND the Roman Baths,but as it turned out we only had time for the visit to the Roman Baths before we had to begin making our way back to the Railway station.

We were allowed to tour the Roman Baths free (because of K’s disability, although we wouldn’t have had much to pay anyway as its a Heritage site.)  You have to use these listening devices which look somewhat similar to a TV remote in appearance. They hang around your neck and Are called Audioguides. As you reached each item in the Roman Baths,there was a number allocated to it, you inputted the number into your handset, and then listened to the narrative which then told you all the information about that object or room. They were fairly easy to use and K soon got the hang of hers.  I on the other hand kept forgetting how to turn the sound down with the result that mine was blasting out all the information to all and sundry!

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I loved this part of our visit, and I took quite a few photographs in here. There was even a lady in costume who came and sat down at the side of the main Bath. She told you a little bit about what life was like in Roman times, and all of her make up was nearby on a table for you to examine.  It was all really very interesting. You are advised to allow two hours to really see the Roman Baths properly but of course we hadn’t got that luxury and it was all too soon that we had to make our way back outside. I had also wanted to visit the Abbey but that had to be curtailed.  A quick ‘splash out’ on some very expensive chocolates as a treat and then we began to make our way towards the railway station.  We were slightly impeded in this because there was quite a lot of roadwork's taking place and I had to ask a passer by which way to go, and after following her directions we eventually arrived back at Bath station where we had a very welcome cup of tea and a sit down before the train was due to arrive to take us home.

It had been a very enjoyable visit, and one that I would certainly do again, only this time we would just visit the Roman Baths and the Abbey which is situated right next door. The journey home was uneventful and we arrived back at precisely the allotted time of 21.45pm. We then caught a bus home, and after quickly washing and tidying away all our lunch containers, leaflets etc, we headed  straight to bed as we were both very tired. 

All in all a very enjoyable day made more so by the fantastic weather we had and we didn’t need to wear our coats all day!

TG 

Sorry I have been so long in blogging about our first recycling collection taking place on Monday. Did I get the wrong day?  Did I put out the wrong containers?  Did my containers get emptied or not?  You must be all gagging to know the outcome. No?  Oh well I will tell it to you anyway!

On Monday morning I duly put out all relevant containers that the instructions told me to for week B, the larger brown ‘slop bucket’, the white sack containing washed out plastic bottles, the green paper and cardboard bag and the wheelie bin which I parked at the end of our path (where it had been left when they delivered them previously.)  I did all this at approximately 06.30am that morning as the instructions stated that the collections began at 07.00am and I didn’t want to be caught out as I have been in the past.  Dashing downstairs with a black box and green bag as I hear the sound of tinkling bottles in the distance is one thing, dashing down the path armed with a white sack, medium sized slop bucket, green bag and pulling along a Wheelie bin is quite another!

I then (after seeing K off to day care) busied myself with the usual mundane tasks that we women do everyday, dusting, washing, hoovering, blah blah blah, all the time keeping my eye and ears peeled for the sounds of someone arriving to collect said refuse.  By the time it came to about 11.00am I began to panic.  I was the only person in the near vicinity who had put their new containers outside!  Had I got it completely wrong?  Had Technogran done the usual and made herself the laughing stock of the neighbourhood?  Would it be in large letters on the front page of our weekly news tome, Technogran tussles with Recycling! Gets it all wrong?  I went outside to the end of the path to check if anyone else had put their containers out, and only one neighbour was putting his out and he was just copying me I think. Gulp!

I decided to give the council a ring to check the date of my collection. I was beginning to feel a right fool.  A young man answered the phone. “Oh I’m sorry” he replied to my question about had I got the wrong day, “I don’t usually work in this department, I have been drafted in just to help, I’ll get someone who will know the answer to ring you back.’ Hmm.  I thought, that didn’t help much!  Then I arrived at a  decision.  If they hadn’t arrived by 12.00pm I would go out and fetch the whole lot back inside.  (well except the Wheelie bin which wouldn’t fit inside the flat of course, that would have to be wheeled back into its place beside the old dustbin.)

Just as I had decided on this course of action, I heard the sound of a wagon, lots of masculine shouts going on, so I peered out of K’s bedroom window and Yes! They were here!  I quickly dashed down just as they were taking my next door neighbours black bags and putting them all in my Wheelie bin (remember I was the only one for miles around who had bothered to put their Wheelie bin at the end of the path) in order to  take it to the back of the wagon to be emptied.  P next door but one was also out, obviously having been taken completely by surprise by the whole affair.

When the guy returned with my Wheelie bin from the wagon, I asked him where I should leave it in future as this had not been stated on the instructions, was it at the end of our path or not?  “No, you should wheel it to the end there at the roadside kerb so that we can then just tip it into the wagon” he replied. ‘What!” I exclaimed.  “Oh well, good job I have applied to be exempt then as I am 65 and that is too far for me.”  I replied.  He looked at me in disbelief and shouted loudly to one of his compatriots who was busy carrying some black bags from one of the flats further down. “Oye Sid!  She’s 65! Would you believe it?”  No reply from Sid by the way, who had a face like thunder as of course none of them expected to be still humping black bags full of rubbish about.   However, they didn’t take the other containers and after enquiring when they would be collected we were told that the relevant team  were ‘on their way’ so I left them there and pulled the Wheelie bin back into its place.

K arrived back home at 15.00pm. We set off at 16.45pm to exercise class. The other containers were still there at the end of the path unemptied. Mind you, on our way we noted that other people had put theirs out to be collected as well.  Would this other gang of collectors ever arrive?  Well when we returned at 18.00pm they had been because all the containers had by then been emptied.  So the outcome of this boring tale is that for once in my life I was actually on the ball! In step with reality!  The only one around my nearest neighbourhood to have my recycling containers there ready and waiting instead of my usual dashing out last minute or having to chase them down the path in my slippers shouting out ”Hang on!”

I ended up being rather pleased with myself at the end of the day. Hmm, maybe this recycling isn’t such a bad idea after all!  Mind you, I am still forgetting to put the used tea bags into the slop bucket!

TG 

Remember not long ago when we were discussing waste and I commented that we didn’t have Wheelie bins in this vicinity?  Hmm.  Well as usual as soon as Technogran opens her big mouth, we have all been issued with a plethora of assorted containers, bags, boxes and yes, a Wheelie bin!  Will I ever learn to keep my big mouth shut!  Anyway, I am now having nightmare’s about the whole thing, terrified I suppose that if we get it wrong (in one nightmare I actually dreamt that they were going to fine you £1000 if you lost your Wheelie bin or put the wrong rubbish into the wrong container!) we will be carted off to jail or fined.

You have to remember everyone, what a dippy person I tend to be at the best of times, I have a mind like a sieve and trying to make head or tail of the relevant instructions that came with all the receptacles has been an absolute nightmare.  Not only that, because of my previous incident with the ‘black box’ walking off into the wild blue yonder I am very reluctant to leave anything outside in case it walks off as well.  Previously  to the arrival of all  the new containers we had our old metal dustbin, one black box and a green bag. The black box was stored at the top of the stairs with the green bag inside it for safekeeping and then just carried outside on the day of collection.

Now we also have a white bag (meant for plastic bottles without tops) a brown bin for kitchen waste with a smaller bin (now christened by myself as the ‘slop bucket’) for the same, and a large Wheelie bin which of course has had to remain outside or K and myself could not get in the flat. To make sure that some person doesn’t waltz of with the latter, I have firmly wedged it into the area next to my old refuse bin so that although if they were determined enough they could move it, it would take some effort on their part and hopefully they would get fed up of trying to dislodge it and decide that taking a neighbours bin would take far less effort.

The medium sized brown bin (referred to by our council as a caddy LOL) is for any food waste and contains a roll of plastic bags which you are supposed to place inside the small kitchen caddy (their description as previously stated mine is ‘slop bucket’) which to confuse matters says on the side of it NO PLASTIC BAGS in very large letters. Then when the forbidden plastic bag is full, you then tie it up and place it in the larger caddy (hitherto christened the larger slop bucket) where it will remain until collection.  All food waste is to be placed inside this including tea bags, uncooked food, leftovers etc, and here is one area where K and I keep slipping up badly. Remember folks we are new to all of this, bad habits die hard, and we have become so accustomed to depositing practically everything into our kitchen waste bin, that I have had to constantly be fishing around inside it this week in order to retrieve wrongly placed items out of there and into their respective proper containers.

The biggest problem is space. The top of the steps now resembles a junk yard with the black box, green bag and now a white sack taking up most of the room. The aforementioned white sack is for plastic bottles (but not with tops, NO tops, plastic detergent bottles and cleaning product bottles and shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles ONLY, and again K and I keep slipping up with those items as well.  The black box has now been reassigned to ANY glass container except window glass, crockery, broken glass, Pyrex glass or wait for it, mirrors.  Quite what you do with any of the latter is not actually explained.

It’s literally all driving me insane. I am a recycling nervous wreck ! Don’t forget that besides having to learn all of this myself which with my memory is no easy task in itself, I also have to learn K where everything should now be deposited (hence my forays into our kitchen waste bin for discarded plastic bottles etc.)  What I want to know is this, how come it has ended up being all down to us the humble householder to sort out?  I don’t remember any of us asking for all this plastic packaging do you?  Or requesting that we all do away with our open fires on which the vast majority of all this refuse would have been burned?  Speaking of which, has global warming been halted by us all doing without our open fires?

And remember that when we did all have open fires, there wasn’t all of this packaging being used anyway.  Please don’t misunderstand me, I am all for recycling but…. as is often usual with progress, we tend not to think things through long term. We got rid of all household use of open fires because it supposedly was bad for the environment  and in the process disabled a means for every household to get rid of a lot of their waste, then we begin to increase dramatically the use of plastic and packaging as a whole which then has to be disposed of somehow.  Think about it all.  Sometimes decisions made by those who supposedly are trying to improve everyone's life turn out to cause more problems than they solve.

So back to our own personal recycling. Its the first day tomorrow and for us, week A when brown caddy, white sack and black box will have to be placed outside at the end of the path for collection. This will then be followed by week B when the Green bag, brown caddy, white sack and grey wheelie bin will be collected and emptied. What’s betting I either put the wrong receptacles out or miss the collection?

If you don’t hear from me after all this you will know that either I have been carried off for getting it all wrong or alternatively been carted off to the local psychiatric hospital  as a gibbering wreck!

TG 

Much to my disappointment I have had to admit defeat, ring up the medical centre and I am now no longer taking part in the Thrive trial of Niacin.  The flushing, burning, itching, prickly side effects that are normally encountered as a side effect didn’t occur for me on my face, (well  apart from about half an hour following the first nights dose) but on my legs.

This also began following the first dosage. It was at that point just affecting my feet and ankles. Then after each successive dose, it slowly crept upwards in both legs until by the time it came to Friday it was above my knees. It was very uncomfortable because both my legs were also swollen and itchy but the worst part was that it was keeping me awake at night, therefore by the time it came to Friday and I had experienced three nights with hardly any sleep, I had to admit defeat and ring up the Medical Centre who are responsible for this trial.

A lovely doctor spoke to me on the phone (you are provided with a free phone number to ring in case of problems encountered) and after I had told her all my symptoms, she advised not to take any more of the niacin tablets and to contact my GP’ surgery for some more of the ordinary Simvastin 40mg which are normally supplied by them. She also followed up by phoning me on the following day just to check if I was okay and to also run through what to do now regarding my next appointment at Huddersfield hospital with the study nurse and to return the remaining tablets then.

I am bitterly disappointed to have to stop the trial, although the doctor reassured me that my small contribution had been helpful and worthwhile. I suppose that I feel that during my life I haven’t really contributed all that much to others, and this was one way of ‘giving something back’. Silly I know, but that is how I felt about it.

Oh well, I should really have expected this as my skin can react to the fresh air if it feels so inclined!

TG

Yesterday morning we set off on a grand day out to Skipton Castle.  As per usual I had done my homework by accessing  the Metro site and printing out a ‘journey planner’ so that we knew times of trains, buses and routes to take. After a discussion on the weather outside which was still quite nippy at 09.00am, K decided to wear her sheepskin coat and  I decided to wear my thick lined jacket and even J, who had  graciously decided to accept our invitation to accompany us on this day trip, was wearing his hat and warm raincoat. We caught the bus to Bradford and from the Interchange made our way across to Bradford Forster Square in order to board the 10.45am train to Skipton.

It was a very pleasant journey to Skipton via Shipley and Keighley on one of the electric Siemens trains that run on that particular route, and by the time we reached Skipton the sun was out, the grey skies had disappeared and it was beginning to feel quite warm. We decided to abandon the aforementioned journey planner following  consulting a resident passer by about the actual direction and walking distance to the Castle. She insisted that it was straight ahead and that we would then be able to spot the Castle and main square to our left, and added that it would only take us about 10 minutes, so we set off and walked there instead.

It was market day and the main street leading up to the Castle where the market is housed was jam packed with people. We made our way up to the Castle entrance gates, paid our entrance fee (Skipton Castle is not a National Heritage site, so K’s membership was of very little use here!) We were given some ‘Explore Skipton Castle’ sheets which helped you to focus on particular areas of interest during your visit to the Castle. J in his usual fashion duly elected himself as chief Castle tour guide for the duration of our visit. K in the meantime was more interested in the Tea Rooms which were housed conveniently just inside the main gate entrance. (never changes does she, in fact I think in hindsight she would probably have been quite happy for me to park her here with a drink and something to eat whilst J and I did the Castle tour without her!)

First stop was the 700 year old Chapel of St John the Evangelist which is now just a shell.  It is stood slightly apart and to the left of the Castle entrance. We had a look around and I took some pictures of the ancient font and the chapel window with the light shining through it, then we made our way into the Castle itself.  900 year old Skipton Castle is one of the most complete and best preserved mediaeval castles in the whole of England.  It is fully roofed and is in remarkably good condition. I took loads of wonderful pictures inside the Castle, of the windows, the slots in the walls for the archers, the great hall, the bedchambers, the kitchens, I love looking around Castles and trying to imagine what life was like in those distant days. I even took one of K sitting on the ancient loo which emptied down into the moat outside! (well it is her favourite seating area and her ‘throne room’ at home!)

There were, as is usual for Castles, lots of stairs to climb both up and down, so K was muttering and grumbling to herself as usual. When J and I descended into the dungeon to take a look down there, she remained upstairs looking down at us.  It was only a very small dungeon, just one room that was all, so she didn’t really miss much. In the middle of the Castle courtyard was a Yew tree that Lady Anne Clifford planted as a sapling after her restoration of the Castle in 1659. It was all very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  By the time that we had visited every part of the Castle it was dinner time, and so after visiting the gift shop for the obligatory fridge magnet for me and the equally obligatory pen for K, we went into the tea rooms for something to eat. There were many paintings hung on the walls of the tea rooms, and we were sat next to one which showed the whole Clifford family.

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Following our dinner, we then paid a visit to the church which is next door to the Castle where we looked at the tomb of Sir Clifford before continuing down the road to the bridge where we began our walk through Skipton Woods. By this time it was really warm and poor K had to carry her sheepskin coat over her arm which really didn’t help with her walking. We really were regretting taking any notice of  the old saying around these parts, ‘don’t cast a clout till May goes out’  Perhaps now with global warming we need to change it to ‘don’t cast a clout till March goes out!’  It was a very pleasant walk indeed and took us behind the Castle, past quite a few waterfalls and a fishing lake before doubling back along a higher path where it emerged  onto the main road where we made our way back down towards the Castle.

There were also boat trips which seemed highly popular as quite a few passed us whilst we were passing above the river and there were a lot of people on board enjoying the boat ride in the spring sunshine.  We took a different route back towards the train station in order to take  in some of the town itself and the shops, which is why we ended up sampling a tub of ‘Yorkshire Dales’ chocolate ice cream as a treat and to help sustain us on our return journey home. Following our arrival back at Skipton station, we didn’t have long to wait before our train pulled in and were soon on our way home.

I thoroughly recommend a visit if you are ever in Yorkshire, it is a very pleasant town and the Castle is well worth a visit, as is the rest of the town itself.  If you enjoy walking as we do, then do take in Skipton Woods as well. It’s a very interesting walk to do with plenty to see and photograph. If you are more the leisurely sort then maybe the boat rides are more in your style?  We all enjoyed our visit to Skipton, the weather turned our to be fantastic (as you can see by the pictures I took) and we will certainly be making this visit again soon.

TG   

Since my last blog about the new tablets that I am taking now that I have been accepted onto the medical study into using a combination tablet of Niacin/Laropiprant in order to see if they help to combat heart disease and strokes , I have been managing to swallow them at night with no problem, but the first one that I took on Tuesday night caused some unpleasant side effects and stopped me from getting a good nights sleep.

The study nurse had told me that the tablets should be taken with food so  I explained that I don’t eat anything after teatime.  She advised me to try taking them without but that I might feel nauseous and queasy if I did, and that just a biscuit eaten either just before or at the same time would help to combat this.  I have never been a ‘supper’ person yet I can’t do without eating a breakfast. If I miss having any breakfast  I feel shaky and weak until I eat something, but I never eat anything after teatime. In fact I don’t always feel hungry then. So of course being me, I decided I would ignore all advice and take them with just some water in the same manner as I take my other nigh time tablets and then retire to bed.

So it was entirely my own fault that i  suffered!  I went to bed about 22.30pm and tried to get to sleep. Then my tummy became upset. I did feel sick. I also felt my face burning up, and feeling ‘prickly’. The burning sensation spread down to my upper torso.  I tossed. I turned. I out of bed and drank some water. I went to the toilet. I still felt nauseous. I went back to bed and  after what seemed an eternity I eventually fell asleep.

When I awoke next morning, my legs felt as if they were on fire, but the nausea had passed thank goodness!  Hmm.     I can’t go through another night like that again I thought.  I’ll have to have something to eat when taking the tablet! So after K had returned from day care, we set off down to town to buy some biscuits.  Of course they have to be gluten free, wheat free biscuits because of my gippy tummy.  So I ended up with a packet of Tesco’s Ginger biscuits from their Free From range which as usual cost an arm and a leg because they have everything missing! No Gluten, no wheat and no milk equates with ‘cost a packet!’  

So on Wednesday night, I had to take my tablet and nibble on one of the ginger biscuits at the same time. They are quite nice actually but I did have to force myself somewhat to eat it. But it did the trick as I didn’t feel nauseous at all, nor did I suffer from the burning face, in fact my head hit the pillow and zzzzzzzzzzz I was asleep thank goodness!  Mind you, that could just be that I was so tired from my previous evenings lack of sleep, but I am hoping not.

Apart from that, I have been feeling fine ,and K and I had an enjoyable morning at exercise class where we were put through our paces by the instructor. It was an upsetting one though as she is leaving to emigrate to Australia and this was her last class so we were all a little bit emotional this morning.

So I shall keep taking the tablets (with a ginger biscuit) and see how it goes!

TG

Today I went back to H hospital to find out if my cholesterol level was now low enough for me to join the HPS2-Thrive medical research project to help reduce the incidence of Vascular events.  I had been told at my last visit that my cholesterol needed to be down to 3.5 or so, and I had been taking some different simvastatins in order to enable this.

As is usual for me, before we set off I did a Metro planned route from our house to the hospital to make quite sure of the required time that the whole journey would take in order to reach the hospital in time.  I find these type of sites such as Metro and Network Rail really useful when making a journey that you are not familiar with.  They give you not only a route to take but also all the times of either buses or trains that you will need to arrive at your destination on time and any walking time that may be needed to get either from one stop to another, or one platform to the next one.  They even contain little maps showing the route to take from one bus stop to the other, or a train station to a bus stop for example if those particular modes of transport are being utilised during the journey.   They really are very useful and once your route is planned it can then be printed out so that you can take it with you to consult during the journey.

I did one when my youngest son accompanied me last time to his great amusement. “ I don’t know Mum, you never leave anything to chance do you?” said he (being one of those people you often see dashing at the last minute along the platform as the train is about to pull out, or running with arms waving frantically at the driver as he drives off from the bus stop!)  No, I don’t leave anything to chance that is true! I hate rushing or being late for anything, and that is why I always give myself plenty of time.  So the Internet has become a godsend for being able to plan any intended journey!

Anyway, when we finally went in for my blood taken and to check my cholesterol level it was still only 4.1 but I was told that I was suitable for the trial despite it not being as low as stated previously.  I was then given more of the simvastatin tablets that I have been taking for the last month, and the new ER niacin/laropiprant tablets as well. I have to take just one tablet at night for the first month followed by two tablets at night for the following month before returning to be checked over in eight weeks time.

I have to been warned that at the beginning of taking the tablets I might get some flushing of my face which can  occur, but you are encouraged to persevere as it does usually pass. Like all medication there are some side effects such as the face flushing and sometimes tummy upsets which do settle in time. If  at any time I am concerned about anything there is a number to ring and I can also stop taking part at any time if I am unhappy about any aspect of it.

I suppose my main concern at the moment is the size of the tablets! All I can say is its a good job it isn’t K taking them because she simply wouldn’t be able to swallow them!   I shall have to place them lengthwise on my tongue to be able to get them down myself, but  I am really glad that I have been included on this trial as now I feel as if I am contributing something to others and doing something really worthwhile.

TG

Today we went on one of our walks with CREW to the Wainhouse tower in Halifax.  We didn’t actually go to the tower but instead walked through the tangled woods that run alongside the valley below the tower itself. Although rain had been forecast, we ended up being very lucky with the weather as the sun shone all through the walk. The members of CREW are holding a ‘Good as New’ sale soon and they had requested some articles to sell such as books, CD’s, DVD’s etc, and R had asked us to bring them with us when we met him. We also decided to include the Teddy Bear that we bought ages ago when we were buying my new bag from British Home Stores.  He has been sat rather forlornly on the top of the fan blower in my bedroom since then, so hopefully he will now find a good home,  but we did feel a bit foolish as we waited to be picked up and everyone was staring at K stood there holding him.  Maybe now he will get to use his passport!

Once R arrived and packed Teddy and the rest of the stuff in his boot, we set off to Halifax where we met up with the other members taking part on the walk. After a short discussion about the intended route we all set off over the football area in Peoples Park and made our way to the start of the walk.  After arriving and taking our time to admire the views across the valley looking out to Sowerby Bridge, we then began to descend into a wood of tangled trees and giant rocks which are often used by rock climbers to practice on. We also noted a small cave in the rocks above. The trees were very tangly and reminded K and myself of the spooky looking trees in the film ‘Sleepy Hollow’.

The walk through the woods didn’t take all that long and we then made our way back along the top path where some rock climbers were already practicing their climbing skills.  On arrival at the road again, we then proceeded to walk along the road towards Wainhouse tower itself.  D took us to see a house which he says is one of the smallest public houses around these parts, then we continued walking back to where the cars were all parked.

We then travelled to the Watermill public house at the bottom of Salterhebble hill for our dinner. I had Shepherds Pie and K had Chicken Tikka Masalla with rice. This delicious meal was washed down with some Gallo rose wine. There was a very nice surprise waiting for K when she had finished her meal.  R had treat her to a Chocolate Sundae and she really enjoyed it. It had allsorts of different things in such as chocolate raisins and marshmallows. She treated me to a few spoonfuls!

Then we climbed into R’s car for the journey home.  Again I really enjoyed the walk and we were lucky with the weather which was kind to us as well.  I took some pictures along the way and will be putting them all up on Windows Live and also flickr. These walks are very beneficial to both K and myself and I look forward to taking part in many more in the future.

TG   More pictures here.