Tag Archives: family

What does Sunday mean to you?

When I was growing up Sundays would traditionally be a day for going to Church, and having a roast dinner. The shops would pretty much all be shut. It was considered a sabbath day, and a day of rest.

Nowadays fewer people go to Church, the shops are open from 10-4 on the whole, and there are generally various events going on. A far cry from the past!

Now I’m not saying one is better than the other, just different. After all, just because the shops are open, it doesn’t mean you have to go there on a Sunday.

It does mean that if a family member is working Monday to Saturday, they can still get a chance to shop or enjoy a family event together. So as you see there are positive aspects in the changes.

Personally I tend to have Sunday as a relaxing day doing not much, but just potter about the place and go at my own pace.

How do you spend your ideal Sunday?

A stained glass window from a Church.
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Tess Torjussen: It’s important to demystify deafness for hearing parents (BSL) — The Limping Chicken

“He has a significant and permanent hearing loss”. “He’s deaf”. *Silence* I look down at my sleeping baby and gently […]

Tess Torjussen: It’s important to demystify deafness for hearing parents (BSL) — The Limping Chicken

Go the Way Your Blood Beats

What books do you want to read?

I am going to have to be patient as the book I want to read won’t be released until July this year.

This book is written by someone I knew, but haven’t seen for years. It will I think be very interesting.

Go the Way Your Blood Beats by Emmett de Monterey (Author) 

Summary
A BEAUTIFUL AND POWERFUL MEMOIR OF GROWING UP GAY AND DISABLED IN 1980S LONDON – AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW https://amzn.to/3YOTYna (Amazon Affiliate link, I may earn a little if you make a purchase)

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P.A. Benefits!!

I am in the process of getting a PA (Personal Assistant) via Direct Payments for the first time, and this means……

I should gain time, energy, and freedom. It will also enable me to have a more varied and flexible social life.

Quite a few of my friends and family don’t live locally, nor are their homes wheelchair accessible, so the logistics of seeing them, let alone staying overnight somewhere are pretty complicated – virtually impossible.

Having a P.A. will hopefully mean this is something that can be overcome as I’d be able to travel by car and not via public transport, immediately reducing travel times. This means for some the visit could be done in a day – a few hours travel each way would be well worth it.

I’ll be able to attend events that aren’t on public transport routes, or at school times where taxis are impossible to get.

Getting bits done indoors will be achieved much more quickly as I can ask for help straightaway, and not have lots of half finished tasks whilst waiting for help with a part of a task. Leading to less frustration.

Simple things like sweeping up the rubbish pile will no longer be a problem, or filling the printer, or putting on goodness knows how many layers of outdoor clothes to walk the dog. Grabbing stuff out of the top of the fridge will be easy, and not impossible.

When you’re a wheelchair user, you learn patience pretty quickly, as well as how to think outside of the box.

Lottery winner.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

What I’d do would depend on how much I won, but here’s what I would do if I won big money.

Firstly I’d be looking on rightmove and booking some viewings for bungalows that caught my eye. Nothing ridiculously fancy or stupid expensive. Ideally a 3 bed so I could have friends to stay, and a good sized garden, and a craft room.

I’d share with family, and invest some money too, also I would give a decent donation to a few charities close to my heart.

Have full time P.A rota set up and be able to give them a good wage. Travel more (just around the UK), and be able to do so pretty much spontaneously.

I don’t desire an extravagant lifestyle, just a comfortable life being able to afford what I need without any money worries.

I would splash out on one thing I’d really love though, and that’s an all terrain powerchair. But the top of my list would be the bungalow.

No Internet.

Well, the phone line has a fault so no Internet connection here at the moment.

I am writing this as a note on my mobile phone, then will be able to copy and paste it onto my blog once the WiFi is up and running again.

Its weird not having the instant access to the world that we have all become accustomed to. No up to the minute weather forecast, or news, no notifications that someone has added a new article to their blog, no funny photos via WhatsApp or social media, can’t send or receive emails either.

Most places I go to provide WiFi access, so my data allowance is kept small as it’s generally unnecessary most of the time, and saves money too.

This takes me back to those days in my far distant past where there was no home Internet, or the actually more frustrating era known as dial-up, where you got knocked offline everytime the house phone was used. Man that was so annoying!!

Children and teenagers of today would struggle to imagine life without Internet at all. It is used for almost every sector of our lives, from communication, education, health care, entertainment, banking etc…..

Would you be happy to live in a world where Internet didnt exist after having experienced it?

I’d be happy to live in a world which is far less instant, but feel that the possibilities provided by the Internet and modern technology outweigh the negatives.

Imagine having lived throughout lockdown without any Internet, we’d have been excluded from the world at large, and even from local friends and family. It would have caused so much more isolation, no video calling to catch up with and check in on people to see how they were getting on.

This ability was incredibly vital during lockdown, as you weren’t allowed to spend time with others, and couldn’t even visit dying loved ones in hospital. It allowed some families to say their last goodbyes, not in person, but the nearest that was possible.

Alexa enables people to live more independently, she can open and shut windows, turn lights on, set reminders for medication & appointments, read audio books online, find information for someone who can’t physically hold a book or use a computer.

Gosh, isn’t technology incredible when you actually sit down and think about all the things it helps us to do.

Live, for how long?!?

Do you want to live forever?

Would I want to live forever? Forever is a very long time, longer than I could even imagine.

I think my answer would have to be, no, not unless my body stayed the same physical health and condition it is now (or better) and all those that I love, lived forever too.

It would be a long sad and lonely eternity if I was off bad health and had no friends and family in an ever moving and evolving world.

Just think how much has changed in yours, and your parents or even your grandparents lifetimes. All that new technology they’ve needed to learn and keep up with.

Forever is a lot longer than the number of years you and they’ve lived – gosh how many incredible yet confusing changes would you have to learn, understand and master.

Dogs are love.

Dogs are incredible, they are so utterly completely genuine and selfless.

They love with all their being and heart, they will sit and listen, or just quietly rest a head on your lap. Equally they’ll go miles with you without question or complaint.

I tried to sit and count all the commands and words my dog understands, and it was an impressive amount, I’m sure I didn’t count them all either.

Like us, they all have their likes and dislikes and funny quirks, but that’s what makes them who they are. My dog loves eggs, bit they have to be cooked, he won’t touch a raw egg.

He loves swimming in natural spaces, but will walk around a puddle. Is as gentle as anything taking anything from you, but will happily drop a grotty sopping wet toy on your lap – yuk!!!

He loves walks, and a good sniff n nosey around, but finds waiting while you take a photo boring.

He loves car drives, and even enjoys going on the bus, but doesn’t particularly like busy trafficiky places.

My favourite item of technology.

Technology, love it or hate it, we need it nowadays!!

My favourite item of technology has to be my Samsung galaxy phone. It is essential for me that I can always contact someone in an emergency, so this is a vital thing for me to have, not a luxury item.

Whilst I do have it for that vital need, it helps with so many other things, emails, keeping in touch with friends, assistance apps, maps, WhatsApp to keep in touch with and send messages/photos/voice messages to friends and family, notes and reminders, calendar, banking, store card apps, taking photos, and writing on here.

I use this app https://passengerassistance.com for train travel, it allows you to set up your own profile and book the assistance you need for the journey. You can find it as an app on your phones app store, or access the website via the link I have provided. I highly recommend it.

A Samsung Galaxy phone.
Photo by MOHI SYED on Pexels.com

Where would I live if I could live anywhere?

Gosh, there’s loads of places I’d like to visit and stay for a while, but where would I like to live?
I know. I’d like to live about 10 miles from here, In a lovely area, just outside of the main town.
It has a great transport network, with several regular bus routes which run well into the evenings, unlike where I live currently. This means you can get into the nearest city for evening events, giving a much wider choice of entertainment and educational (adult education classes) opportunities.
There’s an amazing community spirit, and the neighbours all seem to come together to help each other. I have family there, and I already volunteer in the area, so know quite a few people already, one way or another. Although the area is more built up than where I am now, it has far more in the way of open spaces and dog walking options.
Also, there is more to do their socially, there is a cinema, theatre, leisure centre, bowling alley, gyms, a wide selection of clubs for a variety of interests, a bigger choice of shops.
You don’t always need to move hundreds of miles to have a better lifestyle, it could just be the other side of your village even.