willows

Well , I've now started on numbers 2 and 3 at the same time Number 2 is' Lord V 'who is jet black with a V of deep purple on his head , he's had the base done + his feet and claws + his eyes and one ear feathered ( poor thing ) Number 3 is 'Jaffe' her base is done + feet and claws and I've painted around her eyes ..............Jaffee is in cream all over and should look rather sweet . So at this time I've little tiny bits of feather flying about , cor ......sniff one of these up your nose and your sneezing for ever . Coffee and glue gun now , still a bit 'not with it ' from last nights awake/asleep/ awake/ sleep , but never mind may be I'll come out with black and cream feathers on my head later today . Hubby has promised to take a picture of Topaz now she's done later today and also my simple gorgeous new costume for the show + velvet full length cape with hood ..............so if your interested in seeing these watch out for this later on . AMI

I'm sorry but I would really question his advice with your GP and all the others . I was in a wheelchair for a year when I was 17-18 and I didn't have a problem giving it up when my spine / legs /balance got better . I struggled with walking then not only with Pots but with spinal problems as well and I got the old 'no you shouldn't do it' but my GP backed me saying it was so stupid not to give me a chair because ; 1. It was unlikely I would fall again.........so many before the chair. 2. I would be able to at least be independent ..............unable to go anywhere before the chair. 3. It would help my legs.............to weak to carry me before the chair ( had physio on them everyday whilst in the chair) 4. It would help me long term dealing with my problems and being able to accept them ........what I think she was getting at was that if it was a permanent thing I'd be OK with it , and if it was a temporary thing at least I was only using it at my worst. I gave my chair up again about year later ( 6 months of in/out of it after a year ) my legs are stronger than before and my spine is much, much better. I never had a problem with the chair , it was something I needed to use for my independents , my sanity and it gave me the ability to feel useful again , strange I know , but it did . AMI

Oh ...............MG tearose , I opened my box of new clothes and WOW girl I couldnt believe my eyes at some of the stuff.................. Item 0508 which cost me a whole ?7 , the embroidery around the neck /sleeves and hem is absolutely wonderful, as is 0507 which cost me a silly ?5 I got both in maroon colours . I also sent for 3037 this cost me a staggering ?10 ........ OMG royal blue chiffon trouser suit with long scarf..............the artwork on this is exquisite , if I wanted an English equivalent of this I'd expect to pay around ?200-?300 for this amount of sequins/bead work and for the detailing . I am going to keep this as a best one , for me to wear in the spring/summer/autumn when I feel I can go out one night to eat at restaurant ( very rarely now ) it is stunning , a real 'stop and look' outfit , so with this outfit and my long hair up , some make-up ..............there, a normal looking person .................... except for the one leg, glass eye, false teeth , humped back, stagger like a drunk and large green parrot on the shoulder ( or should I make that owl) and the swarm of flies buzzing over my head ( oh dear ...........loosing the plot again here ) I also sent for one of there skirts to see what they are like .............552 in D-Lyril ..............lovely colour , you can adjust the waist very easily by a tie that runs around the waist band so its up to you how loose/tight you want it . The colour is beautiful and its covered all over with tie -die circles and in /on each of these are silver sequins , it is so pretty and I will be getting some more at ?5 a skirt , its just silly not to ! So , this person here is going to be giving Kaftan's to all of her female friends from now onwards for an extra christmas present , after all , you can use them as a bath robe, a nightdress , if your cold, a summer sitting in dress or a dash to the hospital ' cover all' on the beach after a swim , or just when you are having a ' dripping hot day ' ................all natural like underneath Best thing I've found for years on the net ( along with my yogurt maker ) and cannot wait for the warmer weather when I can put one of my suits on to wear around the place more . AMi

When I have gone to see my man in the past he has almost done the same to me , 'you look well 'he says 'feeling better are we' with me hanging on to the chair as I think its going to take off and fly around the room any minute SO ................this is what you do , AND IT WORKS. Get your other half to take a photo of you on your worst day , you know the day when your partner is really worried you will say 'good bye ' to them . My husband one day when I was so ill sitting on the side of the bed and not knowing what to do with myself anymore, so much pain, sickness, dizziness, headache ...........well you know what I mean . SO anyhow he suddenly rushes off leaving me hanging on to my zimmer frame ( sitting down I might add) comes rushing ( well fast for him ) upstairs with his camera shouts look at me dear This made me angry , but he said ' you will thank me one day ' now look this way or at least put your head upright so I can get your face ' I went back to my man a few weeks after this , once again he said ' you look OK , no problems at all' As per usual I tried to explain the terrible time I'd been having , he just sits there going 'oh , dear , mmmmm , yes, yes , like they do ....................then I put the photo on the paperwork in front of him, didn't say a word , just looked him straight in the face. He went quiet ..................then said 'is this a picture of your mother ?' ' whats the relevance to you ?' ' IT IS ME ' I said .............. ' it is me when I'm ill , which is now 60% of my time ' he looked at me with utter surprise in his eye's , then in dawned , he went out of his office and came back with the top man , who walked in with my photo in his hands , held my face up to him and then said ' b****y H*** it is you, isn't it' Then we started to talk about what they were going to do and for once I was taken seriously as a person with horrendous POTS problems. So ..................moral of this ( sorry so long ) story .....................photo of yourself when ill .............its the best thing you can do , they cannot ignore whats in front of there eyes. Look after yourself and dont let them get you down AMI

Mike is to be 16 on the 14th of this month ( had his boys birthday dinner at the weekend) He is well now , thank goodness , but it is a case of just wait until the next event happens , and we know it will , no one can assure us that he will not have another 'major event' and each event is not just a cold or cough , its things like , kidneys bleeding , bowel contractions that make him pass out , he's had glandular fever at 10 years old , pneumonia , bronchitis ..............ringing bells for me again, yet the consultants say its 'just bad luck ' exactly what they used to say about me . And before you say it , they will not test Mike for POTS , dont be daft I live in the UK with the NHS , its a case of ignore, deny and refuse NOT help as much as you can to sort this out, not just Mike but for his parents as well. My son has been ill on and off since he was born , and the likelihood is that it will continue until someone somewhere actually gets of there bums and See's the light ............... this is not normal. Well I'm stuck in the middle of a son who keeps being ill and a hospital who dont give a monkeys, exactly what happened to myself . Ami .

Great , I'm glad you liked them to and it wasn't a case of 'the old dear' thinking they are nice , when they are naff The embroidery is really good , I have the suit which is a black top /red trousers and a red chiffon scarf .............OMG the workmanship around the neck is brilliant , I'm sitting here at this time in my burgundy one on with loads of cream swirls at the bottom/neck/cuffs which has been embroidered ( and a pair of large black fluffy sox's ) I also used to have this fear of being taken off in the night by ambulance almost naked as I couldnt get into what I'd call normal clothes when I'm bad , but having a cotton one of these , well I look well covered and decent , if not slightly comical with the large black fluffy sox's ......................mmmm I suppose from a distance I'd look a bit like a deranged do-do but without the beak Bye for now , painting an owls bottom and feet at this time ........3 ,45 in the morning AMI

Well I dont know if I'm allowed to do this but the company I've been using who are first rate for price, quality and service are called ' Rupali' just stick this in Google and they will come up with a full online catalogue for you to shop in . I've never had any problems with online paying either , which is good. I've just had the second delivery of my summer ones and they are wonderful , so I'm now going to have a look at a saree................I quite fancy one of these , little cropped top and then this huge long length of fabric, I think I can make a full length elastic waisted skirt out of the fabric and then have enough over to make a short sleeved like button less shirt .............you have to picture this if you can . Medium size is about 14/16 and the size is a good one by the way. Hope this helps , I swear by them now , so cool and you just look so good in them . Ami.

Oh .............Tearose you are a star , I am a comical autobiographical writer for a living. My first book is just being finished , unfortunatley I've had to set it out in a different format than I had already written it in i.e. I had written it as 12 separate chapters all about the disabled body's ability to........ let us down, fool us , drop us right in it and other wild and comical chapters......there's chapters on my hubby, myself and my children. But the publisher wanted it as a book telling all how I came to be such a raving lunatic..........Oh , cheek I'm also 1/4 way through my second book called 'The brotherhood of the wolf' quiet spike has had a read of the first chapter of this to see if its OK. I'm a werewolf in this book , it starts way back with the very first wolf and how his son was born , then comes through all the ancestors to Sara our hero. Sara is the very last werewolf of the clan , she is desperately trying to find 'Bacara' the name that was whispered to her from the lips of her dying father. She will always remember that night , soaked in blood she cradled him in her arms , tears running down her face and mingling with the rain . 'why..............what has he done to deserve this ' she screamed , and a loud sob escaped her scarlet lips , 'please tell me why' but the man in black just walked away , only the sound of a lone wolfs howl could be heard ringing out across the rain drenched sky's. Well a girls gotta do something with the 2 fingers she has left that work well . I've been writing since I was 5 years old .................so I can put a few lines here and there by now Thanks for your clever observations ..............AMi or Willow Brookes ( my pen name )

Wow, Mightymouse , some great shots well done you so have you now found the enjoyment of 'Bugs' ...............yuck, yuck, yuck . As you know I bought Hubby this wonderful camera at christmas since he gave up mountaineering because of his old bod falling to bits and he hasn't stopped since ,you can see his huge selection if you open up my photo album and then go to the top of the page and open up his main album , but be warned there is some pretty gruesome stuff in there. You are really lucky having so much nice creepy crawly stuff about your town , at times hubby is literally digging stuff up and crawling around on his knees to find things here, you will see by his photo's that at time , when its wet or to cold he resorts to taking photo's of anything that isn't nailed down or splattered on windscreens and he has this problem with bringing 'things' into the house then 'loosing them' OMG am I scared of spiders or what , this would be the best way for him to finish me off quickly ( if I didn't know him better that is ) just let loose a huge spider or stick one in my bed , I'd be flying soon after that , if you get my meaning . I look forward to seeing more of your stuff in the future. AMi the wife of a creepy crawly enthusiast .............yuck, yuck, yuck

Since my first Kaftan mid last year I'm now a great fan of Indian cotton Kaftan's and I think I must be turning Indian as I have so many of these and the Salwar suits now , well this and the fact I just love curry's , which I can no longer eat My hubby bought me 6 items for Christmas and I've started to wear them a bit more now , and as per usual I'm wondering why oh , why didn't I do this earlier I have three full length Kaftan's ( cotton pull on dresses with embroidery or beads on , all very pretty ) I wear the velvet one in the evening when it gets a bit cooler and the cotton daytime when I'm at my worst , plus if we have people over in the evening for dinner I have this wonderful black chiffon one with bugle beads encrusted around the neck and cuffs and a sprinkling of them all over the dress, hair up and flat sequined shoes ( which they also sell along with scarf's , bags and Indian jewellery all at exceptional prices ) and you can look a million dollars for about ?20 I tend to come home if I've been out ( hospital/shopping etc) and be dying with the body heat and sweats everything sticking to me , yuck, yuck and double yuck ........so its off with the lot except knickers, smother myself with baby powder and on with a cool free flowing Kaftan and the air does flow up and down inside of the dress . I'm not kidding when I say these are the best thing since sliced bread , not only this but I look and feel good in them and anyone who calls doesn't thinks as I used to have ' why is she in pyjamas at 2 in the afternoon' in fact I've been complemented on my lovely dresses (for thats what most people think they are ) If you want to see what I mean you only have to tap into Google ................salwar suits Kaftan's , there 's a UK shop that beings with the letter R for us in Britain which is so cheap , I've just ordered 2 more full length Kaftan's in lighter colors for the summer @ ?6-7 each , a full length skirt @ ?3 and 2 more salwar suits @ ?8-10 each , which is dam brilliant , the suits are cotton trousers ( elastic or tie waists) a cropped top ( very thin) and a knee length over dress , most also come with a chiffon or thin cotton scarf to hang around your neck and leave to trail at the back , and they are all beautifully embroidered or beaded , tie died or just plain wonderfully printed . They wash really easy , just normal wash , hang on the line ( if you can ) quick iron and away you wear again , simple really. I plucked up courage today and went out in a wonderful bright turquoise salwar suit and got people asking me where I got it from , so I thought , hand on a minute my friends on POTS should hear about this , it may just save a day of 'the drips ' and make someone look good even if you dont feel it . So I'm now waiting for delivery of the next lot of clothes , hopefully today when my son Mike has his special dinner I'll wear the black chiffon one and some long jangly earrings , bit of channel may be ..................mmmmm not bad for an oldy If you want anymore details ask or email me , I'm off now to get more coffee as the old ticker is playing tick ...........tick ...........splat Bye AMI.XXXXX

Thanks guys , you know me I'm 'together again now' ( well thats what I'm saying ) Just been writing to my best friend of 40 odd years so thats cheered me up. I know my pressures have been up and down a lot , I've also got dry eye and my blood vessels are bright red again but I'm not worried about the wait for meds etc , as long as they know what they are doing I'm fine with it . We haven't got a harness here , the big hook wouldnt stay in the ceiling ! but can you just picture me .......glue gun in hand , flat on my back , feathers all over the bed , in my hair, up my nose trying to balance a 2 foot plastic owl on my chest , glasses half on /off the end of my nose to try and see what I'm not or doing , me thinks I'd probably glue myself to the bed , the feathers to my clothes and the owl would just be sitting there watching , blimey if he was real he's probably think ' she's a right one ' ............talk about 'Monty Python ' or a bit of an 'Abbot and Costello ' film . I have just decided that must be turning Indian as I have so many full length Kaftans and Salwar suits now , they are the best thing since toasted wholemeal bread and Victoria plum jam so I'm going to do a new post now for all of us 'hot bodied people ' ....................OMG something to die for again .......yum, yum AMI

Just come back from the eye hospital after seeing the consultant . Today 9 march 2007 I was diagnosed with glaucoma, I knew it was coming , but you hope dont you, you always hope that they are wrong , they have the wrong notes, the vision test machine is naff or anything rather than admit the inevitable . I have to go back again in 4 months for further field vision tests and further consultations and to start medication , they dont quite know which yet as I'm on so many other drugs , so they are going to have a sort out soon . I dont drive at night or after sunset now as I cannot see in the dark , I always use a torch at night to move around the place or lights full on ( downstairs ) so I'm not to sure what will happen with my daytime driving , I do hope I dont loose this to. As for the foggy /misty vision ..............my consultant told me quite simple what it was blood pressure ...........dipping so low that the eyes dont get any , which makes sense to me as I know mine goes into my boots , so what have I got to do when it happens .................OMG your never going to believe this one. Lay on the floor and raise my legs up above my body ..............so for instance ...........I'm out with hubby in the rain on the beach ............... ' ohhhhhhh! blurred vision dear , right lay down on the wet sand , never mind the waves , legs in the air please ' . OR shopping in the large supermarket ....... ' legs in the air dear. never mind the milk trolleys or the old age pensioner with his zimmer , he can zim over you ....... swing them there legs '......................mmmmm its a thought its it. So , now all the waiting and wondering is over and muggins here has another bug nibbling at her bits ............. Ami ............always tying to act the fool ..............well I try guys. PS.............the good news is that I missed a delivery when at the hospital a box was sent to me ???? so what will it be ............ a crystal ball ?, one of those electrical machines that makes your hair stand on end? more dam owls? fairy wishes in bottle ? , crumbs I sent so many charity emails it may be an elephant for all I know ...........its coming Monday ?????

I'm off to the eye hospital tomorrow for my normal ( well for me ) 6 months eye tests , the one were they check your field of vision, then on Friday I'm back to them again to see the consultant to find out whats going on . Today I went to our local garden centre to get some arts and crafts stuff and while in this section I suddenly realised I couldnt see , everything was covered in a sort of mist . it got so bad that I had to call my hubby from his 'bugs & spider's section' to come and find me in case I couldnt find my way to the exit as I'd already knocked into two very large displays of paintbrushes and small pots of stuff and was afraid I'd soon be sending the whole lot flying On Monday I had to spend the day in bed as I was so ill again , pain, pain and more pain ..............and whilst laying there watching the old Harry Potter, as per usual , I kept having problems seeing the TV , again it was all foggy/misty and out of focus. However I did find that if I pulled myself up the bed a bit the focus would come back ................very strange that No , I haven't been sticking stuff in my eyes , other than the drops I have to put in if needed . No face creams or lotions or shampoo/conditioners either ...........just this foggy /mist type film that keeps coming and going . Has anyone else had this in the past or have this problem now ? Well my only consolation is my hubby has said if I do go blind he will dress me and sort out my make-up ....................... mmmmm purple tights with green skirt and shocking pink t-shirt , blue eyeshadow and brown lip stick ............ah , thats my ami done for the day ..................OH , yes dear you look ............lovely You can just see it cant you !!!!!!! but what ever happens there's nothing I can do to stop it , we have glaucoma in the family .............I'm not worried as such and I quiet fancy myself with a nice white stick , I could decorate it with pink flowers and leaves , and its a good excuse to crack people I dont like around the ankles as they pass ............'OOOOOOPs, sorry , didn't see you there AMi

Well I'm just about to put out an SOS on the local radio for birdcages of a largish size and a small old wooden fireplace . I want to hang my phoenix in a Cage from the stage ceiling and another couple of owls in cages and the fireplace can have my bubbling cauldron in with all sorts of skulls and magic stuff on , like old dried flowers, books all the sort of stuff a magician might have . I came up with this grand idea of how to make a Dementor coming out of a chest, this will scare the kids I have this wonderful old worldly pirates chest with a huge buckle on the front , well if I get 3-4 large helium filled balloons , join them together firmly , then cover these with some old torn lightweight fabric ( maybe chiffon) cut to look like the body of a Dementor ( by the way this is a guard from Azkaban prison out of the Harry Potter books) so then tie the balloons to a long piece of invisible line attach this to the bottom of the chest ..............place the cover over these , making sure its long enough to leave the bottom of the fabric in the chest when opened . Open the chest and 'hey presto' the Dementor should just fly out to the ceiling ...............me thinks me will try this later this month , if it works I'll let you know , but this should be a great cheap way of scaring the kids/hubby at Halloween ! Not that I would do this to my own of course ( cough , cough) AMI

Well having been back to the hospital with Mike the consultant has agreed he was very ill when he was in hospital , but now he's better ............... well thats something I could have told him without all the travelling to and from the hospital and the day of wasted. He's no further along with what was wrong with him...............just he was ill So as for now he's written him off coming back for check-ups and has told Mike he looks well , seems to have put on all the weight he lost and is quite happy with the out come..................so another mystery illness to add to Mikes ever growing list of 'we dont know what it is /was or he's got ' . Ami .

Well done you , my illness didn't stop me either and many , many years ago I managed a degree . It is one of the hardest things for anyone who has POTS to achieve ( as well as having a baby that is ) but worth all the effort and you must be feeling like I did then ..............stuff you illness, I can do everything I want to with my life . Congrats to you .AMI

Well I've finished Topaz and am now about to start on Valentine or Lord V as I think I'll call it now. I also decided that I'd give each owl something to do , Topaz will be the guardian of all things sparkly , like precious stones , so I've given her a huge fake amethyst to guard between her feet . Lord V can be the delivery owl for all my mail , and I'm going to make some tiny little parchment scrolls for him to carry in his feet all tied up with red ribbons. I thought about it and trying as I always do to think as a small child would look at things it adds a bit of interest to the owlery if they appear to be up to something , so now I have to think up something for the other owls to do within the magical place .............any ideas would be appreciated , also if anyone has any good magic /mystic or dragon type names let me know as its getting really hard to come up with them all the time ............and remember to write them down before I forget again I've a new hot ( yet cold) glue gun to use at this time and I'm now wondering why on earth I didn't get one beofre now , OMG they are so brilliant . AMi armed and ready with her gun...................OOOH ! I wonder if I could stick hubby's mouth shut at night to stop him snoring ? little bit here , little bit there ..............

I've had extreme leg pains day and night for about 7-8 years now guys and it hasn't in all this time ever subsided for more than 24 hours in one go. At night times its so bad I've been known to quietly cry to myself , I know crying doesn't help because in fact it probably sends my blood pressure all haywire as well , but when it gets to the point I want to take a chain saw to them .................In the day time this throbbing , aching pain can take over , once I was out walking and it became so bad I just had to sit down , I happened to be in town at the time , in the middle of town that is , but I had to sit on the pavement and rock my legs holding onto them by wrapping my arms around the fronts of them , my husband was with me and explained so it wasn't as bad as most people thought , they probably thought i was slightly mad , but I just didn't care . An ambulance came for me and they gave me morphine in hospital , this was over 6 years ago now and this is partly why I'm on such strong painkillers day and night times. Sorry I cant be any positive help , its a case of just having to grin and bare it or mind over matter .I dont know why it started , it just came one day out of the blue . I've tried ; hot water bottles, cool packs , massage , stretching exercises and much more over the years , but only painkillers really work . Good luck and I do hope that yours only is a brief interlude of pain. AMI

Both going up and coming down for me guys. Going up my legs feel like lead then my whole body feels like I'm an elephant , if I stop on them ( upright this is ) I tend to sway about a bit , which is very worry for hubby , so now I've learnt to go up them on my hands as well as feet , rather like a monkey climbing them Coming down If I go to quickly I'll pass out or stggerabout and slip to my bum , not a good idea as I've found out before now , so I tend to slip down the wall with my body , does wonders for the decorating . We were promised stair lift as hubby and I both have terrible problems with the stairs but after 3 years of trying and getting put to the bottom of the list each year we told them to 'GO AWAY' I just got fed up with every year getting all the paperwork filled in , the bank statements to prove that I dont have millions stored away and the same medical reports over and over again. At least we have a loo upstairs and down so If I have a really bad day I'm upstairs all the time or downstairs if its hubby. Ami.

Hello Sandy and welcome to the ...........................? ur , um, the er yep that club Sorry couldnt resist it . My little note book and pen on a length of ribbon attached to my waistband does help no end , I'm finding it quite easy now to say to people ' hang on a minute I cant remember what it is I want or want to say to you ' , so I end up stand there going the .............the , er ............the black er ................ I now just say ' sorry , you're have to bear with me , if you know what it is tell me , I have a memory problem at this time and I just cannot get the word out' Another thing I've found is that I'm having problems with MONEY , a shop assistant will ask me for say ?1. 55pence and I look in my purse and see the amount but cant seem to be able to give it to her , I give her much less most time or I just cant add up what I have in my hand to make the right amount ( this is from someone who did her own company accounts ) so my son or hubby have to take the rest from my purse or their pockets , this to is very disconcerting , but then I suppose I'll get use to it as well . In the long term I'll probably save a lot of money this way but sooner or later the local shop assistance will catch on to the problem and help me I'm sure. Bye for now as I'm a bit sweaty and in real need of a show . AMI

I've just come back from the Doc's having spoken to her for some length about my ,memory and another 4 problems that I'm trying to deal with at this time she's suggested that I just do as I've suggested and write everything down that I need to at the time. I'm also having terrible sweat problems again at the minute , chronic pain with almost black feet if I sit or stand still for any length of time ( rock rock rock on them heels girl) and the feeling of running fleas all over my body ( again) which is driving me mental ....................doc has assured me that this is an autonomic problem and is now about to increase my Nortriptyline to between 50-60 or 70 a night in an effort to whack the little d***** on the head At this time I have the old ' flu but no flu symptoms' so I know my pots is running fast and free ...............I liken it to a bull in a china shop myself , the old crash , bang ,wallop about the body , not knowing which bit will be hit next ...........is it the eyes, the throat or no, no , please not the bum again I've just sat here and typed this out then re-read what I'd written OMG I'm glad I have a very efficient spell checker or guys you would be thinking I'm a complete and utter lunatic who is not just losing her memory but has in fact lost her brain. Coffee , one feels now , coffee and an apple coffee an apple and a lay down coffee an apple a lay down and a spot of the old telly coffee , an apple a lay down , the old telly and .............oh, shut up will I.......... AMI

So sorry to hear of your loss , please send my deepest sympathy to your dad and the family , I pray you will find some comfort in the fact that your mother is no longer in pain and now at rest. At some time in our futures we will all loose someone we love , and this site and the fellowship we all share makes us think about not only our own families and friends , but of the families of those we speak to each and very day , we are all part of one big family on this site, so when one of our family is in need , we cast away our own problems and pain and instead turn our thoughts to you . You have our prayers and our love Maxine. Ami.

Wow , guys so many of us again have this........ 'what , where, when and who syndrome ' .......I think thats what I'll call it sounds better than just 'I cant remember' . I've just had a few days of the old sleep , sleep and more sleep , still tired but still doing the old 'what , where, when and who' so sleep doesn't seem to be the problem with remembering . I'm just taking it in my stride now , as I said to hubby . 'As long as I can remember who I am , where I live and who you two are , well I'm OK ' also take a tip from an oldy ............. I take everywhere I go now a small note pad and pen and if someone says something to me out comes the paper and I write down the address or their name or what it is I have to do , I've got tiny little pads and pens in my coat pockets , handbags ,the car, in the bedroom, anywhere and everywhere I think I may need one ................ well that is as far as I can remember I have I'm not going to let this tip me over , yes it is very worrying and I'm about to have a word or two with my doctor about it , but in the long haul of things it could be worse , I'm intelligent enough to know somethings going on inside of my head , I am wondering if it is now something to do with the amount of really bad blows I've taken to the skull ( a total of 6 in all and a broken skull) so in all I'm doing well for my advancing years and creaky old bones ..............you know me by now , I have to think in the way I do ' self preservation' laugh at yourself and make fun of yourself and the world looks much better , as well as that people wonder what you've done when you giggle all the while . Ami ...............sticking feathers onto bums of plastic owls still................ter-wit...ter-woo be blowed .

Here is the lead into my photo album that hubby set up for me some time ago , I have taken off now some of the old ones and the Christmas stuff as its been there ages. This new lot contains photo's of my son surfing ( well trying ) my son and his best friend on the carts , us all at the zoo ...........the owl I have adopted for the children's hospice he's called 'Oscar ' and such a sweety ( if owls can be that is) some photos of Padstow and Perranporth , two small seaside villages we went to visit and have lunch at . Hubby has also included a couple of brilliant photo's of the birds he photographed at the zoo . If you remember I bought him a new camera at Christmas , now he can no longer even get up a hill let alone mountaineer so he had to find something else to make him feel he is doing something worthwhile , with a bit of real expertise added .........well he's definitely getting the expertise and I'm well proud of him, hopefully this year we will have some nice event photo's to put on in October for you all to see. There's also pictures of Corrina's step-mum and dad at there lovely cottage and a silly one of me on the balcony of the flat with binoculars looking at hubby who looking at me with his camera ................the things us oldie's do for fun So have a look and enjoy . http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i318/ban.../miscellaneous/ A very glued up Ami at this time as I'm working on Topaz again.............

Thanks for your replies guys all very interesting indeed. Corina , blimey girl your having a rough time with it at the minute wish I could do more to help you , when you come over to the UK I'll give you a special hugs and pass some of my silliness on to you , I swear that a lot of the things that the POTS condition throws at us I just will not entertain in my body . Tearose, I do get sleep problems , but normally make up what I loose in the night by sleeping in the daytime, like today , I was up at 4 am then this afternoon I slept like a log from 2 pm until 5 pm , so sound son couldnt wake me when the phone went , my GP has told me to sleep when I can , anywhere , anytime, any place .............so I jolly well do . The holiday has knocked me for 6 becuase I was trying to do to much , then the photo's are on site you will see my face is starting to swell up rather ( michelin man here I come) this is a sure sign that I'm struggling as fluid always sits in me first then I tend to 'hit the deck ' . I haven't had any sleep tests done , do you want to know why ? it would take a year or 18 months wait for me to get seen then another year or so after this before I'm tested , so my Doc has said its not worth the wait or the effort as they life to mess about with drugs a lot ..........NO WAY yep, my hubby's snores, sings , dances, rows oats, flys kites , talks to pirates, wallpapers , decorates, cooks, becomes a 5 year old and cries , See's ghosts and becomes dracula in his sleep every single night , but what the heck ..............I live with a lunatic and so does he .........ME the difference is I do my lunacy daytime and with a certain amount of flair .......he just lets rip every night , bless him Pat, this is the one thing I dont have , my Doc did wonder a few years ago if I was getting down , but since I started doing my charity work and having to think about what to do, make and where to get it etc I've never felt so 'uplifted' even when its grey and raining outside I'm singing away to myself ( or out loud and annoy hubby ) I dont take any of the antidepressant drugs for depression but for the other effect they give , like helping you to sleep and relaxing the muscles as I have SOOOOOOOOOOO much pain it takes my breath away at time . I'd query the depression thing as to me it doesn't make sense at all and I know my Doc would ( if I suggested it ) blow it away telling me I'd less depressed than she is ! Well I'm now about to add some pictures to the chit-chat sight from Cornwall ......you will see what I mean about face swelling . Thanks all ................Ami well at least I can remember my name alright