I've been tagged....

I have been tagged by http://compostbins.blogspot.com/ and awarded the Tree of Happiness

Thank you so much CW!!

The rules of this award are:

1. Link to the person who gave the award to you.

2 Post the rules on your blog.

3. List six things that make you happy.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog

6. Let the person who awarded you, know when your entry is up.

The six things that make me happy are:-

1) Spending time with my dearly loved family, they are my world!!

2) Having the most wonderful cats and dog in our lives, and loving them all to bits....

3) Going for a walk with my dog and enjoying all of the weather elements (and nicer still if the cats decide to come with us!!)

4) All the green things in my life, organic foods, organic gardening, recycling, composting

5) Aromatherapy and my favourite essential oils (organic of course!)

6) Reading... nothing like a good book

I now have to nominate 6 more blogs. I follow so many wonderful blogs each and everyone a real pleasure to read, so its going to be hard to pick out six but to enable me to make a choice I am firstly going to try to avoid tagging someone that has already been tagged so here goes..............

• http://solorndragon.blogspot.com/



• http://www.life-laundry.com/



• http://swan-songs.blogspot.com/



• http://somersetseasons.blogspot.com/



• http://raggedroses.blogspot.com/



• http://moonroot.blogspot.com/

I will let you all know you have been tagged by me and if you want to, you can pass it on...but don't worry if you don't want to do it! Have fun!!

Basil update....

Poor Basil is still poorly, unfortunately he has had yet another stomach upset. I thought he was improving on Monday and resumed his painkiller but that turned out to be a mistake, after speaking with our vet he has confirmed that Basil's stomach is still far too sensitive after the previous upset to tolerate the painkiller he has to take for his hip pain at the moment, so I have to omit giving them to Basil until Friday, this means that any exercise has to be very limited until Basil is able to resume the painkiller. Basil is so tired, I hate to see him like this......

The vet believes that Basil has most certainly developed a food intolerance due to all the upset his stomach has experienced over the past twelve months. We have decided that Basil is to remain on his diet of chicken and rice which he really enjoys and seems to suit his extremely sensitive stomach. The vet is going to find a multivitamin which will make up the nutrients lacking in the bland chicken and rice diet and in six months time Basil will have a blood test to see if he is getting enough nutrients in his diet and if necessary adjust them accordingly.

Get well soon Basil xxx

Basil is poorly.....

Today Basil is poorly....... I have been up with Basil during the night. Poor Basil had an upset stomach (diarrhea) he is so tired out now bless him.....

Basil actually does have a lot of health problems and a complicated medical history and he is only 2 years 10 months old. Basil needs two hip replacements and the first in line will be the left side which gives him the most trouble, both ball and sockets on each hip are deformed and separated the only thing that is holding the ball and socket together are sinews and ligaments. Its a lot like hip dysplasia but in Basil's case its more of a deformity. At the present time we do not have to over exercise Basil, difficult to keep exercise to a minimum as he is a Border Collie and full of energy! Basil also has to have a daily joint supplement and painkiller. When things become really difficult with his hips he will be referred to an Animal Specialist who specialise in this kind of surgery. This surgery is going to be very costly between four and five thousand pounds per hip. We do have a pet insurance which we started when he was a puppy, and that will help someway with the cost but we will have to find extra funds as the insurance will not cover the whole cost. This type of condition is not picked up when the dog is a young pup it begins to show signs later on. I believe Basil was about a year old when he began to limp and become stiff when getting up. So we are busy saving the pennies....... And Basil is of course worth EVERY penny!!

To add to his health problems last September Basil stomach troubles began. He picked up a parasite that made him ill and he developed sickness and diarrhea. The vet said the parasite was to be found in puppy stools. Basil must have picked it whilst on a walk and the owner of the puppy had failed to pick up after their puppy had been to the loo.. a pet hate of mine!! I cannot understand why people do not pick up after their dogs, its such an easy thing to do!!

Once the parasite was treated and Basil began to get better he went down with yet another stomach upset. After a faeces test it was found that Basil had developed Campylobacter bacteria in his gut. Now to cut a very long story short. Basil has been treated for Campylobacter many times, with animal antibiotics, human antibiotics and had to have numerous faeces tests. Basil then developed Salmonella which he developed via the Campylobacter, this resulted in many more tests and of course had to be reported to Defra (think that's how you say it) Finally the Salmonella cleared up and the Campylobacter returned, more faeces tests and medications and finally after nearly twelve months of all of this it appears that finally the Campylobacter has gone (or waiting in the wings?) Due to all of this gut abuse Basil may have IBS but has yet this has not been confirmed. Basil is now intolerant to his pain killer which he has to have at all costs for his hips else he would be in agony! So at the moment Basil each day has to eat only chicken and rice with a scoop of Pro-Fibre in each meal. Before Basil eats his meals he has to have a medicine syringe of Antepsin which is the only thing that allows Basil to keep on taking his daily painkiller.Antepsin is a suspension to treat inflammation of the stomach. I have been advised by the vet to slowly wean Basil off the chicken and rice and replace it with an holistic sensitive stomach dry food which I have been doing and up until today I had Basil eating half the recommended dry food and half the chicken and rice and it was going really well. Then in the night the upset stomach began and I am now back to square one. Its not looking particularly good as it looks as if he is now rejecting the new dried food and I think another visit to our vet is required. Not sure what course of action will be taken now or what the outlook is for Basil but I suspect that IBS is now possible but we shall have to wait and see. No matter what the prognosis is I know we love Basil dearly and we will do whatever it takes ......

Basil's daily medications........

Basil on a good day..........

Where did those days go......

The days go by so fast .... I have had so many things to post about but been the naughty blogger I am just never got around to actually posting! So here goes.......

On Friday 7th November OH went into day surgery to have his now second Cardioversion. OH had the first cardioversion five years ago, and where did those five years go! Life is going by much too fast for me....


Six years ago OH developed a cold which developed into a chest infection. Because it was a busy time at OH workplace (Christmas peak time as its fondly know) OH would not go the the doctors to get the chest infection sorted out, could not spare the time apparently!! I became so concerned that I finally demanded that he go or else. Its rare for me to lay down the law so OH took note when I did and went along to the appointment I had made...


The doctor prescribed antibiotics for the infection but whilst examining OH chest the doctor discovered an irregular heartbeat. To cut a long story short. OH's heart had become infected by the 'ignored' chest infection and the heart had become enlarged. Also the heart was beating irregularly. Thankfully the heart is now back to a normal size but OH is now on heart medication for the rest of his life and because of the irregular heartbeat which is beating far too fast he has now had two cardioversions to shock his heart back into normal rhythm. OH will be seeing his heart specialist on November 24th to see how successful the latest cardioversion is proving to be. So far so good we think.... Moral of this story 'Never ignore a chest infection'


After the Cardioversion....



OH had to be shocked twice and this is the mark the paddle marks left behind. OH had been burned which he had been warned could happen.

OH was prescribed this cream.......


For some reason it really did not help and it actually made the marks very sore .. so out came the trusty

Aloe vera.... such a wonderful plant. I keep it in my kitchen during the winter months and just outside the kitchen door in the summer months. After regularly applying the aloe vera the paddle burn was soon eased and now has completely gone!!

This aloe vera plant is a new one that I purchased earlier this year. I think it needs re- potting and a bit of TLC after I have been hacking at it.....

Aloe Vera

1. A species of aloe (Aloe vera) native to the
   Mediterranean region.
2. The mucilaginous juice or gel obtained from the
   leaves of this plant, used in pharmaceutical preparations for its soothing and
   healing properties.

We Remember.......

I found this beautifully written poem on the Internet, it moved me to tears. Please read it as it portrays what Poppy Day is all about, and we will remember them..........

Why Wear A Poppy

"Please wear a poppy", the lady said,

And held one forth, but I shook my head

Then I stopped and watched as she offered them there,

And her face was old and lined with care;



But beneath the scars the years had made

There remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street,

Bouncing along on carefree feet.



His smile was full of joy and fun,

"Lady" said he "may I have one?"

When she pinned it on, he turned to say:

"Why do we wear a poppy to-day?"



The lady smiled in her wistful way

And answered: "This is Remembrance Day,

`And the poppy there is a symbol for

The gallant men who died in the war. "



`And because they did, you and I are free

That's why we wear a poppy you see.

I had a boy about your size,

With golden hair and big blue eyes.



"He loved to play and jump and shout

Free as a bird, he would race about.

As the years went by, he learned and grew

And became a man - as you will too. "

`He was fine and strong, with a boyish
smile,

But he'd seemed with us such a little while

When war broke out and he went away.

I still remember his face that day.



"When he smiled at me and said good-bye.

'I'll be back soon, Mum, so please don't cry.'

But the war went on and he had to stay

And all l could do was wait and pray.



"His letters told us of the awful fight

(I can see at in my dreams at night),

With the tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire,

And the mines and the bullets, the bombs and the fire."



"That sure did sound like an awful fight,

But your son - did he come back alright?"

A tear rolled down each faded cheek;

She shook her head but didn't speak.



I slunk away in a sort of shame,

And if you were with me, you'd have done the same;

For our thanks, in giving is aft delayed,

Though our freedom was bought - and thousands paid!



And so, when we see a poppy worn,

Let us reflect on the burden borne

By those who gave very all

When asked to answer their country's call

That we at home in peace might live.

Then wear a poppy! - and give!

A man called George Totten wrote
this beautiful poem

Autumn weather and the rest.....

Love the sound of the wind and find it exhilarating when the winds are on the rough side.

Managed to obtain footage (very amateur footage) of the unexpected snow earlier in the week which was listed in an earlier post. I also attempted to film the melting of the snow but sadly for whatever reason the filming did not turn out, its a shame because the sound of the snow melting off the trees was really good. I do however have some photographs of the snows slow disappearance........

Going...........

Going................. Gone..................

Whilst taking photographs I had an unexpected visit from 'Little Mo' ... 'Little Mo' who is fondly known as 'Mo, Mo' is my dear friend and neighbours cat (well one of them) Mo and I have a special relationship, because I have looked after her on many occasions whilst my friends have been on holidays or visits to family. My friends also have a gorgeous Siamese cat that they took in a couple of years ago. Zak has he is called was badly treated by his previous owner. Poor thing was found locked up in a cellar with quite a few other cats, they were fed although not well and did not see the light of day for months on end. You can imagine the stench and mess of that cellar. Zak has been very difficult to settle down and has required immense kindness and care to heal his physical and emotional injuries. Zak is very skittish and never hangs around long enough for a photograph. Zak is slowly getting to trust 'humans' again and will let us stroke him now and again. Why on earth do some people have to be so dam cruel!!!

Finally this weekend popped into our local charity shop and I purchased these two items.

The pot on the left is going to be my new sugar bowl. I had broken my last sugar bowl which had a lid and have been looking for one to replace it, with no luck. I came across this pot and although it may seem tacky to some and more like a pot for use on a dressing table it actually suits my requirements very well and I don't mind it looking a bit odd, I am quirky in many ways and don't always need things to match. The other container will be useful for storing my wooden mixing spoons etc. All that usefulness for a couple of quid!!