Planet Paradise

I stood at the Gate of the Year

2011-12-31T02:51:00.001-08:00

I STOOD AT THE GATE OF THE YEAR
by Minnie. J. Haskins

I said to the man who
stood at the gate of the year
"Give me a light that
I may tread safely into the unknown".

And he replied,

"Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you
better than light and safer than a known way!"

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God,
Trod gladly into the night

He led me towards the hills

And the breaking of day in the lone east,

So heart be still!

What need our human life to know

if God hath comprehension

God hideth his intention."

Child of the Universe

2011-12-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

We went for a stroll on the Llanelli Coast today. When I stood and look at the sheer vastness of this , it brought home just how much of a microcosm we are in this vast world. Microdot or not, each and everyone is of importance - it reminded me of part the of The Desiderata, 'You are a child of the universe; no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here'............

Penfolds and Page not Found

2011-09-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

(Written by me circa 2006)

The thing with Penfolds and MS is that you wake up the following morning, not with a hangover, but with a numb hand which takes half an hour to come back to life, whereupon it feels electric-shocky. This alerts the senses to and sets the tone for today's flavour of MS; the rest of the peripheral nervous system twitches and tingles away discordantly, intent on intruding, gate-crashing on any kind of serenity within; so much so that you just have to get up at the ungodly hour of 5am for distraction.

And such is the fickle nature of MS that I’d walked two miles the previous evening over sand dunes and stony, woodland paths engulfed, no seduced, by the fragrance of wild garlic which grows so profusely there at this time of year; I even had the audacity to forget that I share my life with a debilitating, progressive condition.

"You know you'll never get better," are the words ringing in my head; words uttered a while ago by a nurse who is about as tactful as a fatal brain haemorrhage, unlike the cunningly insidious nature of my own neurological condition.

After tossing and turning there during the pre-dawn hour, my loved one kicks me out of bed for having the damned cheek to feel very well, very bright and breezy physically, but feeling foul mentally because I have a long day ahead of me alone - but not only for that reason because he too knows I need the distraction

I get out of bed, make a cuppa with my left hand instead of my pre-dominant right, and no that's not a moan but simply a statement of fact - such is life with MS after a brief encounter with Penfolds. I boot up my laptop but don’t open my email client because I feel like writing, which to many like myself is a long, laborious, loose tapping with one finger of my left hand.

The affair with Penfolds is by now but a memory, and the details of the previous evening dissipate whilst I have my third cuppa Tetleys. The men are yet to stir upstairs despite the humidity in the house after a night of torrential rain.

An idea had been mulling around my head because of the forthcoming solitude of my day. That idea was based on the words we often find on the Internet - 'Error 404 - Page Not Found'. However for some reason, I couldn't formulate what was in my head enough to commit thoughts to keyboard because I was afraid in case it had the same kind of angry tone as 'Come Undone' by Robbie Williams - familiar with it?

I didn't want to write anything along such a negative theme because that's not the way I was feeling in any case, so I finally gave up.

Next I click on my Outlook Icon- and how lovely, I don't get Page Not Found, but I get the first email of the day and it is from none other than the dearest friend an MSer could wish for and then a link to a website forum where that very person had sneaked in overnight on a conversation between myself and a very lovely person who seeks solace in that forum.

A paragraph springs to mind from a travelogue I once wrote:

"So there I was quietly stumbling along in the casual way I do, when out of the skies which are cyberspace fell another fellow stumbler – whoosh! right into my life, but more like a snowflake floating-falling from a brilliant blue sky rather than the typically heavy thud of an MSer."

I cannot ever write ‘Page Not Found’

In remembrance - 9/11

2011-09-12T07:01:00.001-07:00

Day 254/365: in remembrance - 9/11, a photo by Eiona.R. on Flickr. [COPYRIGHT PROTECTED IMAGE]

9/11 – The Orphans.
A peck on her cheek as he left for the station,
Not knowing the fate that awaited a nation,
A kiss gently blown to a babe not yet born;
A familiar scenario each USA dawn.

A stab through her heart when she heard of the horror
On CBS News, as she felt the world cower;
For death came so swiftly right out of that sky,
To husbands and fathers, in the blink of an eye.

Today a child watches the world weep once again
As Westerners mourn for the day named 9/11.
Are pecks on the cheek and a kiss gently blown,
Sole legacies left by fathers unknown?

Can each orphan resolve the grief of a nation?
Will they be the ones to lead Man to salvation?
For the powers - that - be took their freedom away
By denying all access to what happened that day.

Will the orphans of truth seek their own retribution
For atrocities cast against their own nation?
For Truth must be there, but knowledge is spurious;
Man, mourn the fact - the Fat Cat killed the curious.

© Eiona Roberts - Published by Jasmine Books 2006

The Station

2011-08-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

We recently spent some time away, including a week in Hampshire with our good friends, Jan & Alan Coupe of Wisteria House, Stubbington . One of our days out that week was a trip on the Watercress Line from Alresford to Alton. When we got home and I started looking at my photos, it reminded me of this below the picture.....

'The Station' by Robert Hastings

Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We seeourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train.Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, ofchildren waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, ofsmoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, offlatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines andvillage halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On acertain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Bands will beplaying and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will cometrue and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsawpuzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering -waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"When we reach the station, that will be it!" wecry. "When I'm 18." "When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!""When I put the last kid through college." "When I have paid offthe mortgage!" "When I get a promotion." "When I reach theage of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no oneplace to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. Thestation is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Return to Bruges

2011-06-24T13:20:00.001-07:00

Night falls over Bruges [EXPLORED # 102 on 4/06/11], a photo by Eiona.R. on Flickr [THIS IMAGE IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED]

Not an easy blog entry to make . I'll try to explain........I was stood in Clinton's Cards, Oxford Street, Swansea looking at the 60th birthday cards, thinking to myself, "But I don't feel old enough to be buying a 60th birthday card for my husband." Not the usual upbeat quirky thoughts you'd expect from me. Anyway I bought the card,bought the pressie and a week later departed for Bruges to celebrate Huw's 60th birthday.

There's so much to write about the wonderful time we had but for now a cameo in pictures or the alternative quirky account here

Have a break; have a Kit-Kat

2011-05-28T12:43:00.001-07:00

Day 148/365: have a break; have a Kit-Kat, a photo by Eiona55 [having a Kit-Kat] on Flickr.

Back in a bit :0))

If it looks good enough to eat, use it ~ Abe Ajay

2011-05-27T05:26:00.001-07:00

Day 147/365: if it looks good enough to eat, use it ~ Abe Ajay, a photo by Eiona55 on Flickr.

Experiencing the Divine

2011-04-20T07:39:00.001-07:00

Rhossili Sunset, originally uploaded by Eiona55. [THIS IMAGE IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED]

We decided to take off into the sunset last night to Rhossili. Oh how peaceful and balmy was it, with a high tide and no breeze, on a warm evening in April .

Peaceful, did I say? with so many foreign tourists yakky-yakketing, clicky-clacketting with their Nikon-not-Canon cameras, though they didn't stay, bumbling off, yakkety -yakking.

All of this, above the sound of new-born lambs peacefully bleating; the gentle sounds of the waves lapping; the seagull's cry, the grey seal’s bark......

Was Planet Paradise ever meant to be like this ? .....*sigh..

Hhhhhhhhh?

2011-04-07T06:34:00.001-07:00

Seen in the corridor of my local hospital today Are 'UGS' a new kind of 'ologist, I wonder?.............

Spaghetti Arrabiata

2011-04-05T00:43:00.001-07:00

I have different versions of this recipe because it's so versatile and can be cooked up in minutes.

Just lightly soften some chopped garlic in a tiny drop of olive oil, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and as much dried chillies as you can tolerate.

Sometimes I cook lean bacon strips along with the garlic and for a veggie alternative I've used chickpeas in the past, or used difefrent forms of pasta, with tagliatelle being my favourite. To round it off throw in some torn sweet basil and sprinkle with dried parmesan.

There! a satisfying meal in minutes!

Oh and serve with a glass or few of Pinot Grigiot or Pinot Grigiot Blush.

Mother's Day April 3rd 2007

2011-04-03T11:19:00.001-07:00

"Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws"

~ Barbara Kingsolver

This is an old photo which I scanned this morning because here in the UK we celebrate Mother's Day today. It's a photo of my mother but the baby is a brother I never knew because he was born in 1946 (long before me) and died of viral meningitis at the age of two. My mother went on to give birth in later years to twins - two boys which were stillborn. After that she was told it was nigh on impossible to have any more chidren when out of the blue twinkle in my dad's eye ;-) I made my arrival on the scene. I had a happy childhood filled with love, yet I also lived with their grief over my 'lost' brothers.

I was reminded of this quote from the book 'For one more Day' by Mitch Albom. It goes: ..'But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heart breaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story.....".......

Photo project

2011-03-31T03:31:00.001-07:00

On Jan 1st I embarked on a Flickr project called 365. It's one where you have to take one photo per day every day of the year. Rainy days can be problematical for some but for me I'm rarely at a loss to find anything. This is today's offering.

Day 90/365:the most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug~ Peter Kay

Spring is Springing

2011-03-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

'Blossom by blossom the spring begins'

A.C. Swindburne

March 20th 2011

2011-03-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today is a smooth white seashell; hold it close and listen to the beauty of the hours ~ unknown

Stop, Look, Listen

2010-11-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

As a wannabee amateur photographer, I've learned to stop a lot and look to see what is around me. A thought occurred to me though - how many in these stress-riddled days, take the time to listen and absorb the sounds; the sounds of nature in particular?

Take this photo for example. It's a beautiful scene as you can see; you can almost imagine the tranquility but you can't really get the whole essence without hearing the gentle sounds of sheep bleating; the occasional bark from a farm dog; the birdsong, and even voices of walkers the other side of the lake.

One thing we try to teach little chidren in schools and even in places such as Tourist Centres is the touch, feel, smell and sounds of various things. I wish I'd set my camera to movie mode. Another time....

"Shhhhhh! Come here!

Hold my hand.

Close your eyes.

Listen!

What do you hear?

"I hear silence. Nothing.

I hear your heart beating."

"How?" saith I.

"I just can," saith he.

Silence............................

The Dawning.............

2010-08-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

After a weekend of worries...........

33yrs ago..........

2010-07-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

........I put that ring on that hand and have followed the tenet below it ever since

'But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. ~ Kahlil Gibran

Time

2010-07-26T07:42:00.001-07:00

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.

Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
-Carl Sandburg

MS Awareness Week 26th Apr-2ndMay 2010

2010-04-27T01:07:00.000-07:00

Boo! This is me- ‘tis I! I look pretty much OK at the age of 55, wouldn’t you say? A bit wrinkled maybe, yet I live with a condition called Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (or MS, to Dai public sic.) and have lived with it since the age of 23. I have as sunny a disposition as this photo, so shan’t mention anything horrible ......besides no one wants to read doom and gloom, now do they?

I’m a lover of life and live it as fully as I can. I even took this photo myself because you can do things like that given the right equipment. Oh and the shades? Prescription sunglasses for long-sighteness, that's all.....well Ok, I can barely see out of one eye but hah! I miss naaathink!

MS is the most common disabling neurological disorder affecting young adults and we estimate that 100,000 people in the UK have MS.Please show your support by raising awareness that it is not a death sentence but a life sentence-and after all, Life is for LIVING, ond yfe, Dai? ;0)

A Snowy New Year

2010-01-04T09:54:00.001-08:00

The New Year has seen us getting rather more snow than is usual. We took advantage of being able to get out in it on the last day of Huw’s holiday and ventured as far as the Brecon Beacons.

This is one of the images I captured - and I got to thinking whilst in discussion with a Flickr contact about what wonderful memories images can preserve............

I remember as a child, my dad being taught to drive by my uncle in an old Ford Popular. We'd all pile into the car- uncle in the front, then aunt, mum and a 'mini-me' all in the back ....just meandering the countryside.

I had an incredible thirst for geography even in those early days and always had to carry a map to read - I haven't changed. You can keep your Sat Navs, or ‘Brat Nav’, as I’ve nick-named ours.

The lay-by where the above is taken from , in summer, has an ice cream van permanently parked. Prior to that though it was the actual road and as a child I always had the heebie-jeebies in case my dad veered over the edge.

“Time it was, and what a time it was,
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, long ago....Preserve your memories......”

(Simon & Garfunkel)

More ‘memories’ of the Beacons can be viewed HERE

Once in a blue moon - a lunar eclipse (31/12/09)

2010-01-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

The above heading might look like a play on words- it is, but it happens also to be true.

The skies cleared over Planet Paradise (South Wales) last night -New Year's Eve 2009 -so that we were able to witness not only a blue moon but an actual eclipse of it for a brief period.

I doubt very much if I'll ever witness such a thing again in my lifetime but I must say that it was a lovely way to end the old year and an even better way to start the New Year.

A bit of background info:

Blue moons happen about once every two and a half years. This is the origin of the saying 'once in a blue moon'.

A blue moon falling precisely on December 31st is extremely unusual- the last time it happened was in 1990, and the next time won't be until 2028.

The peak of the eclipse was at 7.23pm (GMT) though I didn’t capture it myself until half an hour later (as above)

The term ‘blue moon’ is steeped in British Folklore. In Shakespeare’s day, it simply meant rare or absurd though during the past 400 years, the meaning has shifted. By the 1940’s it had became recognise as the second full moon of the month.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did it!

2009-07-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

Carrying on from my last entry......

On July 5th 2009 I took part in a charity event for The MS Society of Great Britain. This involved abseiling 30m down the main entrance building of King’s College Hospital, London.

As organised as I’d been about everything during the preceding months, the day of the event saw me in a flat panic once I started to get kitted up in my hotel room, ready for the long trek from Central London to Camberwell.

And the reason for this panic?

This was because I suddenly discovered that I’d left my official orange MS Society tee-shirt at home in my airing cupboard, along with half my other clothes (these I’d already noticed as missing and replaced by making a slight detour on the journey to London by stopping off at NEXT on a retail park- just off the M4 at Newport ).
“What to do?” thought I, because the only other tops I had with me were either evening wear or strappy vests. My thoughts turned immediately to staff who work at MS National Centre and who live in London, so I rang my boss at an ungodly hour for a Sunday to inquire if anyone could spare one.
Within an hour and a half, she herself arrived at my hotel carrying her own orange tee shirt for me to wear for the occasion. Within minutes, we got in the car and proceeded to the venue.
Was I nervous? No.
Why? I can only guess that it was because I was so focused on the task in hand.

I’d been allotted the time slot of 1.30pm. After signing in (and signing my life away) at 1pm as instructed, I joined a group of people outside at the bottom of the building; people from other charities and some doing it just for fun.

I had a longer wait than anticipated so stood there with a few supporters until 3pm. We casually chatted as we watched others coming down the wall, some abseiling as if it were as easy as falling off a log, some looking a tad ungainly with their jolting-jerking-spinning, but most worrying was that one young woman injured her arm as she went over the top and lost control, bashing into the brickwork on her way down.

Now, was I nervous after witnessing that? No. Why? Again, a matter of being focused.

Finally, just before 3pm it was my turn to go. As I stood at the top of the building with its spectacular panorama of the whole of London, a view so clear that I could see the white arches of the new Wembley Stadium 30 miles in the distance, I leaned over the edge and smiled excitedly as I waved at Huw standing at the bottom with his camera.

Was I nervous ? Still.... no!

The next thing that happened was that an instructor attached the safety clip and rope to my harness and instructed me on how step backwards and go over the edge very, very slowly – which I did.

Was I scared at this point? Still....no!

After I’d gone over the edge it was merely a matter of me controlling the ropes with my hands in a smooth fashion, and I can assure you that it was the first time in my life with MS that I’ve ever managed anything so smoothly in a physical sense.

Before I knew it, I was standing at the bottom having my harness removed by one hunk of a guy, but were my eyes on him? No they weren’t, because I was grinning, smiling and waving madly at the friends and family who were with me.

Would I do it again? ‘Course I would - without any hesitation.

At the time of writing, sponsorship is continuing to trickle in and I’d hope that it’ll continue to do so until I reach my target figure of £2000.

In the meantime, my thanks go on behalf of the MS Community at large to all who’ve already sponsored me and for the curious HERE are the photos of the event.

Advance Warning-My Abseil

2009-01-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

Between now and July 5th I'll be doing my damndest to keep myself fit and well for THIS. Well at least I'll be near enough to an A & E unit. I'll bear this in mind in the coming months......

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear ~ Ambrose Redmoon

The question is, can I manage to look as sexy as this whilst I'm doing it?

Santa Parade

2008-12-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

Jude @The Guardian cuts a Christmas No 1?

2008-12-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

*mouth zipped* Just click HERE!

and for the pain relief a festive photo..

A Magical Christmassy Tour

2008-12-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

This is written by me but published under a different title in....

MS TALENT 2

Oh the feeling! The excitement bubbling up in our stomachs;just like the fizz in a newly-shaken bottle of pop, waiting to explode into the crisp dark air. Late night Christmas shopping in town! The darkened skies illuminated by migraine-inducing neon lights; the music from the street organs totally overwhelms. We are subliminally drawn into the moment. We are on that multi-coloured magical carousel playing its dah-da-da-dah-dah……..

We are aware of nothing but the lights, the music, the thrills and spills and all the fun of the fair; mingling with the eager crowds of shoppers only to find that The Halifax is still open.

But whoever can afford to buy a mortgage at this time of year? As we queue it becomes apparent however, that all like ourselves are excitedly withdrawing money. “Gizz our dosh, please?” we silently beg; and there it is finally, a wad of virgin £20 notes. Ah! but before we spend, spend, spend, let’s go get some Dinky Donuts; their sweet, sickly, pungency pervades the air like the smell of candy floss at funfairs. Oh!… let’s have some hot chocolate as well whilst we’re at it, because the air is getting frostier with each frenzied breath we take.

Through the hurly burly, my thoughts turn to wondering where people come from on this cold December evening; where will they go when their wads of brown, purple and blue paper money lose their virginity as they are handed over tenderly to rough, ham-fisted market stall vendors. Will they return to their warm, cosy sitting rooms with further mugs of hot chocolate or mulled wine like us? Or home to cold, damp, dark flats devoid of Christmas love?

A visit to Santa’s Grotto in one of the big stores is a must-do for children of all ages; we can barely contain our excitement. We part with our £1.50s and join the winding trail snaking into the depths of the labyrinth. “Can I have some candy- sticks, mum?”, a little boy enquires from the front of the queue. “Only if you’re a good boy and be polite to Santa and not kick him in the crotch like you did last year!” “Oh, ma-am, it wasn’t my fault, I tripped!”

The air inside is gets oppressive as we mingle with so many bodies vying with each other for control over the queue. The grey faced man behind our cash-desk sits stony and tired-looking. It has been a long and tedious shift. No thrills and spills for him tonight as he dishes out the change or swipes the credit cards robotically. We venture back outside into the cold air in Oxford Street, with its stripey-roofed, fairy-lit market stalls. Each one contains a treasure trove of el-cheapo goods manufactured in sweat shops and ‘Made in Hong Kong’ labelled goodies. On impulse we buy nearly everything in sight because the lights cry out, “Buy me! Buy me! I’m yours for the taking!” We buy the musical tie, the flashing Santa Badge, the dangly, itchy Christmas bell earrings.

Ah! But there is magic at work here; we are not in control. We are being controlled by the smiling faces beaming at us; the taped muzak; we are walking in a winter wonderland; the aroma of hot-dogs, candy floss, mulled wine, the stale smell of the alcohol which I unwittingly inhale as a drunk bumps into me, “Sorry Mrs!” Very quickly I search my bags for my purse - just in case. Phew! That was a close one; money and presents still intact. Suddenly we realise the dangers which lurk on our 21st Century Streets. ”Come here Steffan, bach! Hold mammy and daddy’s hand in case you get lost!” fearful for his safety on these crowded streets. We fight our way to the Quadrant Shopping Centre – yes each staggering step we take is a fight against the demonic faces seemingly trying to push us back whence we came. Oh yes indeed, we are in the throes of battle here. Someone accidentally kicks my walking stick from me almost causing me to fall. I feel like hitting the perpetrator over the head with it once it’s been recovered from the floor, but do I? No. Instead a vision of a Tom and Jerry cartoon flashes inside my head and I think how wonderful it would be to physically bash everyone senseless in the quest to arrive at our destination.

And our destination? Debenhams! As we squeeze our way through the main door, ear-bashed by “Once in Royal David’s city” we’re also floored by a spray of the most disgusting perfume invented by man or scientist; neither are the males exonerated from this assault on our senses. The heavily cosmetic’d young woman insists, “Try some Opium, please?” Too late! Our throat and airways are constricted by her spray as we weave our way through with stomach muscles unavoidably heaving like waves rhythmically beating on a distant shoreline. My senses react with a sneeze louder than an elephant’s and the path ahead of me is suddenly clear. The battle is won! Our journey takes us to the Kitchenware Dept, my own personal plethora of culinary curiosities. I feel at home here. Everything is strategically placed, seemingly crying out, “Come buy me! Come buy me!” in ghostly whispers echoing around the fluorescent lights. Do I imagine the pale, gentle hand beckoning me into the red-green goldness; matching serviettes and napkin rings; golden cherub candles; golden Christmas tree baubles; golden garlands? I catch a momentary glimpse in my mind’s eye of King Midas; everything has turned to gold.

On turning the next corner, “Oh I just have to get that cute little melon- baller!” “But why?” the voice of conscience asks. The voice is ignored whilst it is dropped discreetly into the glittering chrome basket. “Ma-am! I’m tired. Can we go home please?” My golden bubble has burst; I fall back down to earth with a sobering bump, no longer intoxicated by the now nauseating aromas of cinnamon, Dinky- Donuts and stale beer. We are hurled out of the rainbowy whirlpool of lights into the dark once more. The dream is over; it’s time to go home. We trudge through the now tired streets with heavy legs, heavy bags, heavy hearts but a light purse and wallet, back to our car. We look out into the dark from the black window of our vehicle. Have we been in some fantasy world? All seems dark and dismal - par for the course of a winter’s evening in downtown dismality-land. As the car halts at traffic lights, two sunken eyes in a grey-black face try to shout through our closed windows, “And so it’s Joy to the World? and a Happy Christmas Mr f***ing Rich Man?!”

There she is, curled in a bedraggled heap on the frosty pavement, our familiar local homeless one; scarf wound around her scrawny, emaciated brown-grey neck, accompanied by a scrawny, emaciated brown-grey mongrel. I turn on the car radio to hear strains of Ralph McTell………..”Let me take you by the hand and ………..”

November and Still Under Water

2008-11-09T07:01:00.000-08:00

No doubt the weather statistics for the end of the year should make for interesting reading because it's a rare day these days when it doesn't rain here - hail even....look....

You can view the full story in pictures HERE

But the real reason for my Blog upate is to promote the fact that the light of my life (son) is now, in his spare time Web Admin of THIS though naturally I'm going to have to correct his spelling, once in a while.

And so to get back to the, rain why not chillout indoors and listen to A Day Without Rain by Enya...

Planet Paradise under water

2008-09-07T12:37:00.001-07:00

Well that’s how it’s been all summer in fact, and I can hardly remember experiencing such torrential and persistent rain in all my 53 years on Planet Paradise .

I took this photo on July 9th from inside my patio door

At the time of this Blog entry I can count on one hand the number of afternoons ( not whole days) we’ve had respite from it. Look at some of it HERE!

But let’s not add to the gloom because we have in fact managed to get out for a few hours when the weather’s been OK. Here's one such place- Broughton Sands, North Gower.

And more of which you can view HERE!

Just to finish, unfortunately sadly no sea scene accompanying it, but my favourite Welsh Folk Song of all time, ‘Ar Lan Y Môr’

‘Ar lan y môr, mae rhosys cochion
Ar lan y môr, mae lilis gwynion
Ar lan y môr, mae ‘nhariad inne,
Yn cysgu’r nôs a chodi’r bore’

Fly me to the Moon

2008-05-21T06:06:00.001-07:00

TRIP I'R LLOER

Mi hoffwn fynd rhyw ddiwrnod

Ar wib drwy'r gwagle oer,

Mew roced fawr o'r ddaear hon

I weld hen ŵr y lloer.

This is a short Welsh recitation for ten year olds, very briefly translated it goes like this: I'd love to go on a rocket ship soon, to see the man in the Moon

I guess that the above is the nearest this 53 yr old will get thanks to the joys of a Digital Rebel XTI - taken on May 19th 2008. More views HERE!

The Yellow's on the Broom-Mewslade

2008-03-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

'The Yellow's on the Broom' are lyrics to a Scottish Folksong. In Wales we called 'broom' by another word i.e 'gorse'. But what's in a name? for the picture's just the same. Here's one from an afternoon out at Mewslade on the Gower Coast; Easter Monday 2008 to be precise.

More photos HERE!

St David's Day - March 1st

2008-03-03T04:56:00.001-08:00

We decided to shoot off up the M4 on Sat 1st March to the Cardiff Bay area for no other reason that it's a great place to take photos, with its unusual modern architecture, such as this - The Milennium Centre.

We'd expected to see a few traditonal Welsh events going on seeing as it was St David's Day. However, little did we know that we'd end up bang in the Middle of the annual St David's Day parade in Cardiff because this year for the first time the route had been extended so that it ended up at the Senedd i.e. The Welsh National Assembly buildings.

Spectacular photos of location shots for the Torchwood TV series and of the parade itself can be viewed HERE but I just have to spill that these ladies dressed in traditional costume, on walking away after the civic dignitaries' speeches, were heard by me 'n 'im to be speaking in English accents - the damn cheek of it !

Likewise this pretty daffodil at Mermaid Quay.....

*sings*

'Mae lle i chi gyd yn fy nghalon, Cy-ymru Fa-ach...'

A January Inspirational

2008-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Boxing Day on Planet Paradise

2007-12-27T04:33:00.000-08:00

This is the first time in over 30 yrs that we've had the freedom to do as we please on a Boxing Day, so what better way to blow away the Christmas cobwebs that to go fo for a stroll along Swansea Beach, regardless of the weather....

Sea Fever by Me

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky.
And all I ask is a Honda Accord and a driver to steer me by.
And the heated seats and the engine’s drone and my hands excitedly trembling,
And the grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey afternoon in the making.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Grown Up Christmas List

2007-12-23T13:44:00.000-08:00

Swansea Winterland-Planet Paradise

2007-12-04T00:44:00.000-08:00

Just a few seasonal photos. More to be uploaded onto Flickr during December (scroll down and see badge on right )

Bring me Sunshine

2007-11-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

There's a bit of a tale to be told, (only a bit) as to why I ended up watching the following vid the other evening...................It's coming a bit close to Christmas, isn't it? This is the time of year I dig out my Christmas sheet music. Hark! Are those the songs of herald angels that people are going to be hearing?

Ah! But no! Because whilst trawling through reams and reams of music scores, I stumbled upon the piano score of 'The Stripper'. "Now why would you have needed that in the past?" one friend questioned me. My reply was, "That it is for me to know and for no-one else to find out........"

I searched out the following as a result and it rekindled sunshiny memories of my late father who was a great fan of Morecambe and Wise. More than that though, I remembered seeing the duo live on stage as a child in the 60s, on one of the piers at Blackpool.

The weather was atrocious with gale force winds, heavy rain and the inevitable high seas. Eric Morecambe did an aside to Ernie Wise mid-sketch...."I don't know what they're laughing at (i.e. we the audience). I wonder if they know that we're adrift in the Northern Atlantic?" Sheer class! Enjoy even further class .........

"Bring me sunshine in your smile, Bring me laughter all the while......

For Huw

2007-11-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

Because the Concert in the Millenium Centre, Cardiff was cancelled.

Wanderlust

2007-11-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

According to the Wikipedia, the definition of ‘wanderlust' is as follows: A strong desire to travel, or by having an itch to get out and see the world.

Therefore I admit to having a touch of the old wanderlust because no sooner was I back on Planet Paradise after spending time in Edinburgh but we i.e. ‘im ‘n me were hitting the road for a half-term break in the Cotswolds.

Life as it is, being full of fiery surprises, saw me with eyes ablaze to match the fantastic Autumn scenery surrounding us when I discovered that ‘im hadn’t packed my Golden Linseeds but had packed the Immodium Instants instead because he’d had a bit of the Delhi Belly, having been away from home himself earlier in the week.

Think ‘calm’ I thought to myself. Like hell! I was ablaze inside – this colour .....

Fortunately we were joined at GLEBE COTTAGE for two nights by Jan and Alan of WISTERIA HOUSE therefore the first day of the holiday started with the hunt for golden linseeds, not golden scenery in the Cotswolds. Well it was hissing down with rain anyway so there was little else to do. Just look at this view to prove it..

Jan, bless her, surreptitiously sloped off into a Co-Op in Moreton-on-Marsh only to emerge triumphant with the elusive linseeds, whereupon I collapsed into her arms declaring eternal love and devotion. Ok then, nothing as melodramatic as that so let’s just say that I was grateful.

Quote: The only thing to do is to hug one's friends tight and do one's job ~Edith Wharton

More spectacular photos HERE!

Away again - Edinburgh

2007-10-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

I was invited by a friend and work colleague to a week away at Edinburgh to ‘cat-sit’ whilst a family member was away….oh and not forgetting the work aspect because we continued to do this with me also being trained further into the intricacies of WOW (Work on the Web)

Well just tell me about pushing the limits of your comfort zones because this involved an 8 ½ hr train journey to Edinburgh on my lonesome and not only that but a changeover at Crewe of all places.

Of course, having a Disabled Persons Railcard helped with the cost but the fear of getting myself lost and confused at Crewe was just way too much to contemplate i.e. had it not been for a facility called Travel Assistance.

I was met at my carriage door, taken to the correct platform and was put onto the correct train without even having to handle my very heavy luggage; heavy, being not with clothes but with camera equipment and digerati type things. Oh and I'd always associated Redcoats with Butlins, not National Rail- well Hi-de-Hi!

Hey Viola! Here is Edinburgh in the Autumn (Princes Street Gardens to be precise)

Of course those who are familiar with MY BOOK will know of my quirky SOH, therefore when the Travel Assistant put me on the train at Crewe on the outgoing journey and we were greeted with two husky dogs in the bicycle hold, then it’s at times like this that my mind goes into over drive.

I guess it would surprise no-one that my mind was focusing on the fact that their presence there could indicate that the train would find difficulty once climbing into the Scottish Hills and therefore they may well be called upon to take over……..

I’ll say no more abut the journey because I’m now writing my second book but suffice to say that the journey in the Quiet Zone of the train was disturbed by beer drinking young lads on their way to watch Wigan play Liverpool FC, and a mother and toddler who’d pooped her pants (i.e. the toddler) and said mother read aloud Nursery Rhymes and Bedtime Stories for a solid two hours after wards, but none of which helped me to sleep on my own journey.

All in all though, a wonderful week in the company of a very special person. The photos can be viewed HERE

Ok then just one more for now- Arthur's Seat......

Quote: The marvellous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse ~Helen Keller

Autumn once more

2007-09-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep Sea, and music in its roar

I love not Man the less, but Nature more.

Lord Byron

View more HERE!

A Boat Trip (me??)

2007-09-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

That is, a trip to Caldey Island off the Pembrokehire Coast.This trip was in one way an act of courage by me.

I have an inexplicable affinity to the coast but I'm a dreadful sailor due to having MS.

However, having had balance problems treated successfully some years back, I thought I'd do a 'Carpe Diem' just to prove I can now do certain things. The shame being that the weather had turned overcast by the time we arrived.

Here's one photo...

For further views click HERE!

A Break

2007-08-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a song comes along which may not mean anything to anyone else but to this listener, it has meant a great deal over the last year despite it being an oldie.

Join in with Sarah MacLachlan singing this.....

In Search of the Perfect Poached Egg?

2007-08-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

Then look no further than HERE for your eggs poached to perfection (and scroll down......AA 4 Star this year !!!! ) There was only one snag though because the hostess promised me faithfully that she would show me how to poach to perfection but like all chefs/cooks. I left with out that info - dammit!

And for those who want to see some err...'interesting' sights...i.e. me right up the top of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth..the Crow's Nest to be precise then look no further than HERE!. (Thank God for those CC exercises eh? ) Click on individual photos for explanations. There's a tale yet to be unfolded as to how two grown (?) men were seen scurrying (!) carrying a picnic bench laden with food, Portmeirion China and silver cutlery.

I couldn't capture that photo because I had to protect my camera.......but the 'after' photo is there . Questions on a postcard please as to why my husband is lying on his back trying to take a photo of us behind him....................

Nosh 'n Natter

2007-07-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

I could have called it a ‘ladies who lunch’ experience but I’ve never pretended to be a ‘lady’ and besides the phrase has an air of the pretentious about it.

I went on an awayday yesterday (July 11th 2007) to meet with a friend half way between Planet Paradise and the Murky Midlands at the picturesque town of Hereford and have more plans afoot now that THIS arrived today.

You’d have expected a person like myself to have taken photos galore but zilch! nada! nothing! Why? Because I felt as if it would have intruded on the whole essence of the occasion but also sometimes personal and indelible memories can be better than photographs.

However, I ‘borrowed’ the following off the web to give some insight as to where we sat nattering in glorious sunshine,(nicer than it looks here) until it was time for the nosh part of it.

The place at which we ate couldn’t have been more perfect. It has a website where you can read all about it here!

Being a foodie (read: GLUTTON) I can’t let this go without mentioning the nosh. We chose a different dish each but we shared the both; one being (I forget the correct name) Aubergine, spinach, chickpeas in a mediterranean-y sauce served with rice, the other being a buffalo mozzarella, tomato and pesto salad-all washed down with a rather good bottle of Chilean Merlot and copious amounts of still water. Well, St FGS drank the water, anyway. (Really?)

On leaving we noticed some quotes on a menu stand on each table; we agreed that the following pertained to both our lives..... For those with my background I silently queried the source of the text because is it Malachi 3:10 . This speaks of tithing, but there are links there to counting blessings ....all that pedantic stuff aside, here is that quote:

“Although pain is inevitable; misery is optional. We can either count calamities or blessings.”

I know which I’m counting, for sure.

A Self-Portrait

2007-07-08T00:19:00.001-07:00

I took this shot of me on Llangennith Beach, The Gower (Planet Paradise) on the evening of July 7th 2007.

Now I look back on it, it's an interesting concept and if it hadn't been a 'spur of the moment' shot, I think that with the right application I could have done an arty-farty shot.

More views of seashore life to be viewed HERE!

Salmon Chanted Evening

2007-06-23T00:53:00.001-07:00

I love faffing with recipes as well as photographing food. Here's one I created a few weeks back. From a photography perspective I think I should have used a darker plate, nevertheless it sure tasted droolishous.

Ingredients:
4 asparagus tips
strips of smoked salmon
french cream cheese
rocket and spinach salad

Method:
Steam asparagus for a mere 3 or 4 mins
Wrap the smoked salmon around each tip
Decorate with a bed of the rocket and salmon salad tossed in garlic flavoured olive oil
Also present with a dollop of the cream cheese.

Use as a starter or a light meal

And don't you love the SoH of one friend who suggested that upside-down it looked like a lady with four legs dancing in a hula-hula skirt????

Feel free to view more food photos HERE! some of which have been featured in a recipe book of mine and the odd one or two in New Pathways Magazine and various other places.

Who?

2007-06-03T02:38:00.001-07:00

Who can say where the road goes....

2007-05-20T03:05:00.000-07:00

Those are the opening lines of the song, Only Time by Enya.

I think it suits this photo I took yesterday very well.

As for the next line.... 'who can say where the day flows?'

this is where it went.

If a picture paints a thousand words....

2007-05-16T05:03:00.000-07:00

.....what would this one conjure up to you?

I took it at an MS Society Regional Event at Twycross Zoo on 12th May 2007.

To me it doesn't merely signify a communication between man and animal but take a look at the broken sculpture; I see this as a reaching out to all those whose lives have been broken by Multiple Sclerosis but also a joining together of those people secure in the knowledge that they do not have to face this condition alone.

It reminds me of the Graham Kendrick song, 'Beauty for Brokeness' (scroll down page to listen) and just how beautiful a picture is this taken by a person, not broken by MS but in fact strengthened by it?

"Beauty and sadness always go together.

Nature thought beauty too rich to go forth

Upon the earth without a meet alloy"

~George MacDonald~

Does size really matter?

2007-05-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Read about it HERE

Hollywood comes to Planet Paradise

2007-05-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

It's arrived here to be precise in Newquay, Cardiganshire

Read more about the 'invasion' on the BBC website HERE!

My mother's family hailed from this area therefore I have a very small photoset Here!

A Commercial Break

2007-05-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

Read all about it!

If music soothes the savage breast.....

2007-04-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

....read on......

I’ve done my fair share of choral work in the past but never once did I think that this kind of thing would tinkle my ivories or would ‘do it’ for me but this sure has.

Let me introduce....

Scala and Kolacny Brothers!!!!!!

Eat yer heart out Bono!

Mrs. Bach's Rescue Remedy - Eggz 'n Beanz

2007-04-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Alas! Planet Paradise has been in rather a turmoil since returning from Bruges.

We've been having work done to the kitchen for weeks now but one day last week I really think I hit crisis point when I was without water and electricity, although I found myself inadvertently nicking a neighbour's bandwith from his unsecured wireless connection so found myself online when I shouldn't have been.

Being without water was the worst bit because I couldn't flush my toilet. I have an embarrasing problem occasionally in that area which meant I was forced to take a Codeine to stop me.... err.......... It totally spaced me out and I felt as if I kind of 'lost' a day out of my life. It was on this day that my kitchen was stripped bare; no sink and no cooker here any more....

The following day I was p'd off with eating takeaways and thought to myself, "Hell! my parents lived through World War 2- I'm sure I can get through this!" Huw wasn't around so once the electric was back on I cooked myself a 'gourmet' meal of scrambled eggs and Heinz Beanz in my microwave sat crossed legged on my lounge floor Shame I couldn't find the Lee & Perrins nor HP sauce but there you go...

I did however manage a 'mental health hour' during the week and nipped out to take some spring photos. Here they are...

CLYCHAU'R GOG

DANT-Y-LLEW

OK so a dandelion is a weed but in truth isn't a weed simply a flower growing in the wrong place?

Easter in Bruges

2007-04-15T02:57:00.000-07:00

We went away late Easter Sunday and arrived in Bruges on the Easter Monday for a 5 day break in glorious Spring weather. It's not the first time we've visited; the last time was in May 2003 but I spent most of that holiday in bed with food poisoning so missed much of it. You can read about those hilarious antics in THIS BOOK

I'd always wanted to return to this beautiful mediaeval city so we finally made it-and what a holiday it turned out to be; the best in 30 yrs because my MS is rather subdued or tame right now.

The above is a nightshot I took of probably the most famous view of Bruges with its canals and Belfry in the background.

Further unusual photos can be viewed by clicking HERE!

(click each individual to read captions, details or just view slideshow)

Me doing what I love to do

2007-04-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

This was Good Friday April 6th 2007 at The National Botanical Gardens of Wales -one of those wall-to-wall sunshine days. Not the most flattering of photos but....well.... it was a good opportunity to rest my pins anyway

You can view the proper photos HERE!

Rule #9

2007-03-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

I can't remember where exactly I first read about Rule No. 9 nor the relevance of that number but many of those like myself with Multiple Sclerosis will realise the significance of this Rule after looking at this photo

and Rule No 9 is ...

'Never miss out on an opportunity to pee'

A Cabin Fever Day

2007-03-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Every so often I get what I call a 'Cabin Fever Day' usually when I see that we have springtime wall-to-wall sunshine; I just have to get out there and soak it all up, especially now that I have a new camera which I'm still getting acquainted with.

So yesterday (28/3/2007) I took a cab to Victoria Park Swansea and walked from there along the seafront and back up to town. It took me over 4 hours at my snails pace but it was the most blissful day I've had in errr......since a week last Saturday.

The above was my starting point but you can see more photos and read all about it.........HERE (Click on detail or the individual images to read the whole text)

Is it so small a thing
To have enjoy'd the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done...

Matthew Arnold

Lliw Valley - Spring and Autumn

2007-03-13T03:22:00.000-07:00

Someone suggested to me the other day that I'm rapidly becoming a member of the digerati and leaving the world of the literati behind me. I hope that's not true because 'books izz me'.

I have to admit though that I've aquired an external hard disk drive not just to back up my writing but to store the thousands of photos I have; I've even created FLICKR account to share photos.

See bottom right hand pane >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And the very fact that I seem to have 'lost' my Upper Lliw photos must surely be indicative of the fact that this aquisition was warranted, if I'm heading towards the realms of forgetfulness or MS Cognition Issues

View the joys of the Lower Lliw Valley in Spring and Autumn HERE!

And finally the dream becomes reality

2007-02-19T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've mentioned it a few times by now, but it's not every day a common PwMS gets a book published.

Finally today it is on sale. Profit goes to MSRC and it's published by myself in conjunction with Writersworld

This came about as a result of me posting humorous tales on MSRC Messageboards where I was encouraged by Lawrence Wood CEO of MSRC to put them all together in book form.

It is available as an A5 sized Paperback; printed in 12pt Verdana to make it easy to read for those with MS-ey eyes; has a flexible spine for ease of 'handling'; a paper thickness which is again easy to handle - oh and let's not forget that it contains 237 laugh-a-minute pages.

Price is £11.25 inc P&P and available directly from me so Email Me! if you're interested.

Quote: In order to make your dreams come true, you must awaken and take charge ~Natasha Newsome

Books, Cinemas and Stuff

2007-02-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

This is Waterstones Bookshop in Swansea City Centre. It exists inside the housing of the old Carlton Cinema, one of many old cinemas to have escaped the humiliation and indignity of being turned into a Bingo Hall; it’s also a ‘listed building’.

Waterstones also houses art exhibitions on the floors behind that huge window. It can be a multifactorial experience when visiting; books and art! Duw! Duw! I feel as I'm getting in touch with a higher 'being', just being high up in there.

The Carlton, with its double seats for courting couples in the back, is where Huw took me on one of our very first ‘dates’. Huw the Rock must have some kind of sadistic streak beneath that tender heart because one of the first films he took me to see was Ben Hur- all 4 hrs of it (Yawns!) It was before Dolby Surround Sound came into existence but by hell could you feel those seats vibrate with all that chariot fighting; we also felt as if we were in a fast and furious passion wagon without the joy of ............

I was in Waterstones a few weeks ago browsing; only doing so because I love books so much that I end up buying too many and have difficulty carrying them home;I take a peek, well Ok then sit down and read a few paras then buy online when I get home.

A 90yr old woman approached me – well, I say 90 because she looked older than me anyway judging by the wrinkles. Yes OK, so I too have wrinkles but there are ‘wrinkles’ and ‘wrinkles’ aren’t there?

She asked me, 'D'you know anything about books?' I felt like replying, 'Do you have enough of your lifetime ahead of you left to listen?' but instead sweetly (yes I can do 'sweet' when it suits ) replied, 'What are you looking for?' wondering whether indeed I looked like a shop assistant with my walking stick and £150+ Goretex waterproof jacket.

The woman replied, "I'm looking for romance," ……and you really have to keep a straight face at times, don't you? I felt like telling her when the next Derby & Joan club meeting was on, but you can’t, can you?

My mind went totally bank, devoid of authors names but there was a display of Catrin Collier books behind me-an Anglo-Welsh writer. I picked one up and said, “Read the blurb on the back of this, see if you like it”.

“But I don't have my reading specs,” I handed her mine ... “Try these!"

"No, bach- just tell me the price on the back"

"£6.99"

This was followed by a ‘Holy Mother of Gaia, Jehovah, Vishnu and the Buddha!!’ look because it was too expensive, I guess. I suggested she try looking in one of the charity shops.

Talking of which, “Stop me and buy ONE?” Please? Pretty Please?

Invictus by W.H.Henley

2007-02-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

This is a poem -''INVICTUS by W.E. Henley. I've chosen it because the last two lines speaks volumes to me about life with MS.

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloodied but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And ye the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

W.E. Henley

Multiple Sclerosis is a condition which as yet has no cure but for which there are many treatments depending on symptoms. What I've learned throughout my adult life with MS though is that we cannot 'undo' the condition, yet we can pretty much take control over things especially with regards the choice of being content and making the best we can out of a situation.

At this moment in time it would be imprudent of me to say anymore because my views form part of the Introduction to my book 'Stumbling Along- A Journey with the Master of Surprises' (c) Eiona Roberts 2006 available at the end of this month.

Can it really be Winter on Planet Paradise?

2007-02-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

Santa brought me a new Digital SLR Camera for Christmas, a Canon EOS 400D.

It’s now February but have I had the opportunity to learn to use it yet? Have I hell! because the weather has been stormy, windy, rainy, anything but sunshiny, in fact. I declared to Huw the Rock that the first sunny day we get, I would just get out there and strut my stuff with my great big Eos. Funnily enough the word EOS is Welsh for LARK, so off we went, two birdies ancient and modern, just to fiddle around a bit.

I walked downhill from our house to the River Tawe in the Swansea Valley.This is not the first photo I took but after the 1st 50 (yes 50!!!) I started to get the hang of things. This is looking down the valley towards Swansea, not that you can see the City centre from such a low level.

The next two are on the other side of the bridge looking North…

Now you may think it strange that I took a photo of a tree in a field, but crazy as I may seem at times, there is always method in my madness because.....
a) There are often herons in that field but –zilch! on that day.
b) I wanted to fiddle with different focal lengths and focal points - no I don’t know what it means either but it gives the false impression that for once I know what I’m talking about.
c) I just love the sunshine and blue sky-the biggie, that's what it's all about.

And so a song by John Denver which is quintessentially my own very feelings on such sunshine …..
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a day that I could give you
I'd give to you the day just like today
If I had a song that I could sing for you
I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a tale that I could tell you
I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I had a wish that I could wish for you
I'd make a wish for sunshine for all the while

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost all the time makes me high

Another one of the River Tawe-considering how much rain we’ve had recently, it’s not exactly in full flow; possibly it too was basking lazily in the sunshine….

And finally, I’d agreed with Huw the Rock that I’d allow him to come pick me up when I’d reached a certain point because no way could I get all the way back by foot. Of course he goes by another name because he too likes to flash. This is me by DavidBaileyHuw....

“Is it really winter?” I asked myself as I divested myself of fleece and scarf and was stood there in a thin sweatshirt.

2007 A New Year Begins

2007-01-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

2006 ended on rather a sad note for us as family because the only remaining parent we had passed away a week or so before Christmas. We'd cancelled our November holiday because of his illness but fortunately found ourselves being able to go away for a break and stay with our friends over the New Year at WISTERIA HOUSE in Hampshire.

Here's a view of part of that area- from Gosport over to Portsmouth.

Here's one of my favourite poems about the New Year by Minnie J.Haskins, interspersed with some photos I took.

I STOOD AT THE GATE OF THE YEAR.

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night

He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!

What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,

God hideth his intention."

The Four Candles

2006-12-03T04:07:00.000-08:00

A Dessert to 'Dai' For

2006-11-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

One of the many, many things I enjoy doing in the kitchen is to create udderly artery-clogging desserts to die for - literally, if you were to eat this kind of food constantly. This should carry a health warning unless you don't mind filling your gut with lactose, saturated fats, sugar and additives-oh and let's not forget alcohol.

Now please bear in mind that I'm an 'intuitive' cook, which means I hardly measure anything, I just touch 'n taste so all measurements are vague rather than approx.

I've yet to find a suitable name for this so for now let's just call it......

FGS' TIA MOCHA MARIA

Ingredients:
Cup of Tia Maria
Sponge fingers
2 sachets of chocolate blancmange mixture
Milk
Squirty cream or whipped cream
Grated chocolate or choc decorations.

Method:
Line up 6 sundae dishes
Crumble the sponge fingers into the sundae dishes up to ⅓ of the way up.
Pour Tia Maria over the sponge fingers until it’s thoroughly soaked in.
(If you want it less alcoholic, mix some Tia Maria with cold black coffee.)
Make up the choc blancmange according to directions on the packet using the recommended amount of milk.
When cooled, pour this over the sponge, up to ⅔ of the way up the dishes.
When this is set, or just before serving, top the dishes up with the cream and sprinkle over the grated choc or decorations.

Warning: Do not attempt to drive after eating.

Touch Me

2006-11-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

TOUCH ME

If I am your child . . . please touch me.
Persist; find ways to meet my needs.
Your goodnight hug helps sweeten my dreams.
Your daytime touching tells me how you really feel.

If I am your teenager . . . please touch me.
Don't think because I'm almost grown,
I don't need to know that you still care.
I need your loving arms; I need a tender voice.

If I am your friend . . . please touch me.
Nothing lets me know you care like a warm embrace.
A healing touch when I'm depressed assures me I am loved,
And reassures me that I'm not alone.
Yours may be the only comforting touch I get.

If I am your life's partner . . . please touch me.
You may think that your passion is enough,
But only your arms hold back my fears.
I need your tender reassuring touch,
to remind me I am loved just because I am me.

If I am your grown-up child . . . please touch me.
Though I may have a family of my own to hold,
I still need mum and dad’s arms when I hurt.
As a parent the view is different; I appreciate you more.

If I am your ageing parent . . . please touch me.
Hold my hand, sit close to me, give me strength;
And warm my tired body with your nearness.
Although my skin is worn and wrinkled,
It loves to be stroked,
Don't be afraid.

Author Unknown

November Morning - Swansea Marina

2006-11-16T02:04:00.000-08:00

I had to laugh when I downloaded this onto my PC. When I took the photo I didn't realise how squiggly the reflection of the masts would be. I almost had to go and take a Stemetil

Out of sight here on the right are a few coffee shops and such like. I had the most subliminal hour or more sat here drinking espressos watching the world go by - also texting Huw the Rock in his stuffy office, "Wish you were here!"

There's nothing exceptional about this next one except that the colourful reflections of the water caught my eye. It also looks like a ghost -town but believe me there were plenty of people out for an early morning stroll; I guess they were all like myself on the sunny side of the dock.

Of course there's no point talking about or showing pictures of Dylan Thomas' 'Ugly Lovely Town' without mention of the bard himself. Here he his looking a bit ....ummm.........not quite as he usually looked. Wonder what he'd make of Swansea Docks' old Pumphouse behind him being turned into a Restaurant owned by one of the National Chains?

They don't sell the same beer as in Browns in Laugharne, maybe that's the reason for the wistful look. Oh how the world has changed eh? with its synthetic food, synthetic designer wines.......synthetic lives?

Surely they must be the eyes of the young Dylan, the ones from Fernhill, reminiscing.....

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,

And not the passionate, angry voice protesting......................

And death shall have no dominion
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion!

Maybe he was reflecting on the weird reflections such as I captured here ......

Two more of the Pumphouse before I dragged my heavy legs back up to the town to catch a cab home....

Here's St Mary's church next to the Taxi rank......litter bins everywhere these days. Shame that they go unused thus defiling Paradise .........................

..........aaaah but the warmth and welcome inside with cheap cups of tea, coffee and chicken soup to those in need of both physical and spiritual sustenance.

"Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" ~Matt.11.28

Unless

2006-11-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

UNLESS

Unless we can hear each other singing and crying, unless we can comfort each other's failures and cheer each other's victories,we are missing out on the best that life has to offer. The only real action takes place on the bridge between people ~ Anon.

(Picture:Michelangelo's the Creation of Man depicting God reaching out to Adam)

Mid Wales in Autumn

2006-11-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

Guess where?

Yspytty Ystwyth

Devil's Bridge

The Legend about Devil's Bridge

There are three bridges over this part of the Mynach Gorge, each one built successively over the others, as they needed to be improved for traffic. The lowest of the bridges and the original one, is associated with a legend that is common in Britain with minor variations from place to place.

A woman and a cow got stuck on one side of the gorge unable to cross over. The Devil appeared and said that he would build a bridge over the gorge in exchange for the soul of the first living creature to cross it. The Devil finished the bridge and waited in anticipation for the first thing to cross it. The woman cunningly threw a piece of bread across the bridge and her dog ran after it, meaning the Devil had to be satisfied with the soul of a dog.

Mynach Gorge

Nostalgia????

Road from Devil's Bridge to Llangurig (B4343)

Autumn in Pembrokeshire

2006-11-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

CALDEY ISLAND from Lydstep

LYDSTEP CLIFFS

MANORBIER

Towards SAUNDERSFOOT from AMROTH

'Wotcha looking at?' by Huw

MANORBIER CASTLE

SAUNDERSFOOT HARBOUR

SAUNDERSFOOT BEACH

Huw at Amroth

AMROTH BEACH

PEBBLES - Manorbier

St. CATHERINE'S ISLAND, TENBY at High Tide

SAUNDERSFOOT HARBOUR by Huw

Pride before the Fall

Of course when we talk of Paradise, there's always a Fall of Man scenario. In this case it was the Fall of MSer. This pic was taken bout 10 secs. before I had one of those 'tripping over thin air' experiences. I performed a Skydive from an altitude of a mere 5ft (my height) onto hard tarmac- SPLATTT!

Thankfully no damage was done except for a broken nail ...but you don't half feel a right tit at times, talking of which,I swear that those attributes of mine are what saved my specs, nose and head being smashed.

The Age of Aquarius

2006-10-29T01:45:00.000-08:00

You'd think that DavidBaileyHuw would have the decency to 'dress' his model before flashing, or at least tell her that bra straps and vest straps are not in alignment, a typical Venus and Mars scenario eh? or is it another dawning of the age of Aquarius when it’s Jupiter which is aligned with Mars? ......and that her shorts look more akin to something out of Kylie's wardrobe than that of an ageing MSer?

This was one Friday evening July 2006 at a place called Cefn Bryn on The Gower. It is scattered with Neolithic/Bronze-age burial chambers, and other such stony pre-historic mounds, as if it had rained boulders nearly 3000 yrs BC; one in particular being the most well known, a cromlech (cairn) called King Arthur's Stone.

I suspect that the earth must have moved since we last went there or possibly Dr. Who and his sonic screwdriver had dropped in from the thundery purple sky because it certainly looks different to your typical cromlech these days-we have an old photo of a 6yr old Steff standing under it pretending to hold up the 25 ton capstone. It now looks like a heap of rubble scattered with Ronald MacDonald type detritus.

This photo is called Spot the Husband-can you see him trying to take a shot under that capstone?

This is it......

We also have a tale about that 6yr old Steff when we visited there one hot summer. There had been fires all over Gower because most of its acreage is peaty moor land and Cefn Bryn itself had been smouldering away for about two months, a bit like the late Ron Perkins with his pipe.

When we got there it was very dry but no fires i.e. until we started walking over to Arthur's Stone and someone walking ahead of us threw a cigarette butt on the peaty grass. Could the smoker have caused the path to smoke in passing? therefore could this even be the derivation of the phrase ‘passive’ smoking?

The next thing we knew was the familiar voice of a 6yr old boy crying out those all too familiar words, 'Maaammmyyyyyyyy!!! I want to wee-weeeeee!' Huw said, 'Go wee over there and put that fire out!" So he did - a bladderful, and succeeded in extinguishing the smouldering peat.

So Steff's claim to fame, for everybody has at least one, is that he prevented the whole of the Gower Peninsula from smoking itself into oblivion just by aiming his congenital genitalia and shooting!

Happy days, eh?

1st &3rd photos courtesy of Huw. Other photos courtesy of explore-gower

Just for today

2006-10-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

Text © Alice Bergin AngelBooks Photo © Eiona Roberts

This Momentous Day

2006-10-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

This Momentous Day

Each smallest act of kindness reverberates across great distances and spans of time,affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo,
because kindness is passed on and grows each time it's passed,
until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away.
Likewise, each small meanness, each expression of hatred, each act of evil.

by H.R.White

Autumn on Planet Paradise

2006-10-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

LLANSTEFFAN

RIVER TOWY outside CARMARTHEN

WRECK at FERRYSIDE

LOWER LLIW VALLEY RESERVOIR

From MYNYDD GELLIWASTAD (above our 'ouse)

CAT'S EYES- Bank of the RIVER TAWE

LLIW VALLEY

GLYNCOLLEN WOODS very near home

A Bit of Frivolity

2006-10-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Leading on from the Laughter is the Best Medicine tome earlier in this Blog......it really does the soul a bit of good to engage in frivolous conversations such as you get in the Humour Forum on the MSRC MESSAGEBOARDS It never ceases to amaze me how a one liner of a joke can lead to the following:-

MY CUCKOO CLOCK IS BROKEN

My cuckoo clock is broken,
All it does is weakly shrug.
I must have wound it far too often
Or it may have caught a bug.

I really hope ‘snot woodworm,
Or I must phone Rentokil!
Oh my poor old cuckoo
Let’s hope you’re not too ill!

Until I find what ails thee,
I might stay too long in bed,
So I’m afraid my dearest cuckoo,
I’ve bought a digital clock instead!

Tales of Whales and Waterbeds

2006-10-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

If you’re considering getting a waterbed then, don’t! Stoppit!

NOW!!!!

We had to sleep on a waterbed when we house-sat for a friend in Holland August 2005. I didn’t know I would have to rest my weary body every night on this until it was too late to cancel.

I’m used to sleeping on a hard orthopaedic bed so I really had no idea how my back would cope. Before we went, I'd run the whole gamut of leg-pulling about sea–sickness and having to wear my Travel Bands to go to bed.However, that in itself proved not to be a problem, though the squelchy, burpy noise every time each one of us tried to move was a bit off-putting. I wasn’t sure if I was Jonah in the belly of the whale or if indeed I was the whale itself with all the sloshing, slooshing noises going on.

It certainly sounded as if we were deep in the bowels of someone with gastro-entiritis, or even worse someone with a belly full of beer and the customary ' 'dessert' of a doner kebab. Here's a pic to take away that thought....

It was really comfy if you were happy to remain in one position all night but the big problem was that once I was in a sleeping position, the bed enveloped me to the extent I couldn’t move, because in order to turn over I needed a firm base to lever myself off.

Not only could I not turn or roll over , I couldn’t even sit myself up in it, let alone get out of the bed. I felt as if I was stuck in a quagmire. I needed Huw to physically manhandle me in order to move. Whenever I'd managed to sit up unaided, I just fell back again. Had my core stability disappeared overnight? I think not, for I was not the only user of the bed to have problems; Huw the rock was well and truly sunk at times as well.

The size of the bed must have been Soopa-Doopa XXX Large California double burger-king-size (well the Dutch ARE tall). As we waved goodnight to each other we joined in a chorus of ‘My Bonnie lies over the Ocean’ before sailing off into the sea of dreams, or possibly floating/drowning in quicksand.

And come to think of it, now I’ve mentioned XXX, I wonder how people are meant to carry out the nuptials in such an environment. It was like a space shuttle trying to dock with an orbiting satellite only trickier.I mean how does a partner find the other’s G-spot when both bodies are floating off in opposite directions?

After many attempts of lying there trying to keep still as the other body ‘docked’, humming 'Rule Britannia' and keeping a stiff upper wotsit to bide the time, we gave up. I wasn’t worried about the other half feeling a little deflated but I was very concerned in case we punctured the bed, so we pulled out the plug on any notion of a romantic holiday, notwithstanding visions of the Dutch legend of the little boy sticking his finger in the dyke to stop the Polder leaking

Welterusten Vrienden en versnapering mijmert!

PS A lesson in Geography...this was the heart of the Polders, land reclaimed from the sea and therefore once a whaling community.

PPS READ ABOUT WHALES AND WHEELIES HERE

Just in case you don't know !

2006-10-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE!

The 9 Choices Happy People Make

2006-09-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

1. INTENTION - the active desire and commitment to be happy and the fully conscious decision to choose happiness over un-happiness.

2. ACCOUNTABILITY – the choice to create the life you want to live, to assume personal responsibility for your actions, thoughts and feelings and the emphatic refusal to blame others for your un-happiness.

3. IDENTIFCATION – the ongoing process of looking deeply within yourself to assess what makes you uniquely happy, apart from what you're told by others should make you happy.

4. CENTRALITY – the non-negotiable insistence on making that which creates happiness central in your life.

5. RECASTING – the choice to convert problems into opportunities and challenges and to transform trauma into something meaningful, important and a source of emotional energy.

6. OPTIONS – the decision to approach life by creating multiple scenarios, to be open to new possibilities and to adopt a flexible approach to life's journeys.

7. APPRECIATION – the choice to deeply appreciate your life and the people in it and to stay in the present by turning each experience into something precious.

8. GIVING – the choice to share yourself with friends and community and to give to the world at large without the expectation of a “return”

9. TRUTHFULNESS – the choice to be honest with yourself and others in an accountable manner by not allowing societal, corporate or family demands to violate your internal contract.

Home thoughts from a broad

2006-09-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

To Huw

Pour your love over me
like a cascading waterfall
in a South American jungle
and I will bathe in the
warmth of its calm pool.

Pour your love over me
Like the molten lava
of an Icelandic volcano
and I will feel the hot
breath of your powerful body.

Wrap yourself around me
like the lianas of the
Amazonian rainforest
and I will let myself
melt into your being.

© Eiona Roberts

FGS Goes to France

2006-09-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well here I am celebrating our 29th Wedding Anniversary last July in Dinan, Brittany and about to eat the most sumptuous meal imaginable. It’s fortunate that I have photos to remind me of the occasion, because after that head- blowing Kir as an apperitif, I have little recollection of the end of the meal…......

……..and the following is my starter for ten, meaning €10 (!!!!!). At that price you just have to eat it despite the fact that it had rather a lot of raw fish as well as cooked (I hope) shell fish such as the odd clam….. and when I say I hoped it was cooked, it’s because I swear that I was bitten by a lobster claw-or had that Kir already hit the spot no other Ribena ever hit?

I actually wanted frogs legs but the man from De Valley say ‘No! It’s the first day of the hols – I don’t want you ill for the rest of it!” And to be fair to him, he’s always right about these things. Dammit!!!!

This was it…...

This is the riverside where we ate that anniversary lunch on the only searingly hot and sunny day we had on our holiday. We’d left a rare Swansea heatwave behind us to find typical Swansea Valley weather after that first day; damp’n drizzly, yes, damp ‘n drizzly getting into every sinew and bone inside this ageing ex-lump of lard…can you hear me rheumatically croak the damp ‘n drizzly blues?

A jerky, joint-jolting road-train journey back up to the centre of Dinan saw us mingling with touristy types and street vendors. I bought a homemade, handcrafted necklace and matching bracelet at an extortionate price merely to spite Huw the Rock for not allowing me the teeniest weeniest temporary tattoo somewhere discreet Ah! But I hear you mutter disapprovingly, "Hear! Hear! You are too OLD for such things," well I beg to differ because I’m only as old as the man that I feel. Mon Dieu! That makes me 56, almost an OAP, so I retract that statement NOW !

Huw always did have an eye for the absurd which I guess must be the reason why he ended up with me, so when I saw this photo he took of a street musician, the mind begs the question just what IS that in between Sioni Wynwns legs…????? They like it up 'em, Capt'n Mainwairing!!!???

The following day…. back to where we were staying in Rennes……we went a-wandering, or should I say a-wheelie-ing through the old town. Just what is it about the French and their dogs? They roam everywhere leaving their doo doos for every wheelie user and pedestrian type person to pick up the muck, though I think the following is quite cute …..the house, not the dog…..

I don’t know what it is about the French and their bitches either, because upstairs in one of those buildings we heard the most venomous caterwaul of a tantrum emanating from a French female’s mouth, directed at who or what we’d no idea because it spat forth at such a rate of knots we'd no chance of getting the drift.

That may have been a good thing because it sounded as if a murder was about to be committed, so if we were to be questioned by the Gendarmerie at a future date then at least we could innocently protest, ‘I know naaathing!’ pretending to be from Baaathelona!

Next….one of me in Rennes Centre Villes…
It’s the usual scenario of Huw dumping me in a convenient location whilst he took shopping back to the hotel. I sat and dreamed with eyes wide open behind those shades. My reverie was broken by a line of official looking cars pulling up solemnly in front of me, each one doing a graceful right turn then a slight reverse movement until I was surrounded by an army of French gendarmarie and quite high-ranking looking ones at that.

Worse still, each one on emerging from his (and her) car had a pistol tucked in their belt and stood in a semi circle around the area I was sitting. I sat there for a whole hour surrounded by these guys, too tired to self propel like a bat out of hell and too scared to flinch. H came back beaming and teasing about me having a magnetic personality. As soon as he arrived they disappeared as regally as they’d appeared leaving me feeling very unregal despite my initials (E.R.)

Now there really IS something about the French isn’t there? For example, every city or town in France just has to have a water feature or fountains.Mon Dieu! -does it put strain on the bladder at times, and is it my filthy mind or do these even look phallic ? -or possibly you cannot tell in a still shot because I can tell you that those columns of water were pulsating up and down in the most rhythmically suggestive way.

I can’t let this opportunity pass without showing the world one of the things I really, really enjoy doing. I just love flashing in public places. I don’t pretend to be a good photographer because I tend to point and shoot in the hope that my very old digital camera can cope with the handshake and provide me with a half decent shot……

Of course every picture tells a story but the story in this case is what happened afterwards. We were driving towards Carnac in pouring rain when we crossed a bridge with a view so I shouted out, “Stop the car – there’s a view to be shot!” I almost got shot myself at that point……shot down in flames, because I made it quite clear that I wasn’t getting out of the car in that rain.

We crossed the bridge and parked at the side of the road, a few hundred yards away. Huw got out and ran asthmatically back over the bridge leaving me in a hot stuffy car. I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable in the heat and…...well they fine people for locking hot bitches in cars don’t they? so I moved over to the driving seat to open the door in a safe place and sat there with door open and rain dripping in.

I’d committed a heinous crime, or so it seemed when Huw got back to the car because I’d had not only the audacity to sit in his driving seat but I’d also allowed the rain in.

Just one of the pix he took…..

I could bore the knickerbocker glories off everyone at this rate so here’s one last shot taken on the journey home of Pont Normandie as we crossed it just gone 8 am on a sunny morning.18 deg.C it says on that sign. Yes! The sun shone as we returned to the British heatwave.

Au Revoir!

A Pic and a Poem

2006-07-03T00:09:00.000-07:00

This pic was taken at some local sand dunes and reminded me of the following poem by William Blake:-

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

Planet Paradise - Swansea and Gower

2006-06-24T02:53:00.000-07:00

Let me take you on a tour of Swansea Bay and the Gower Peninsula. It is not an extensive tour, merely a few cameos of Planet Paradise. First stop.....

SWANSEA MARINA

LOOKING TOWARDS MUMBLES HEAD FROM WEST CROSS

THE SWANSEA - CORK FERRY COMING IN ON THE HGH TIDE

FROM KNAB ROCK TOWARDS SWANSEA

SWANSEA BAY at DUSK

OYSTERMOUTH CASTLE by Jay

MUMBLES HEAD

CASWELL BAY

RAISED BEACH at PENNARD CLIFFS

THREE CLIFFS

SEA HOLLY at PENNARD BURROWS

TOR POINT

THREE CLIFFS from the SOUTH GOWER ROAD

WORMS HEAD, RHOSSILLI

HUW at RHOSSILI

WEOBLEY CASTLE-NORTH GOWER

THROUGH THE KEYHOLE at 'WOBBLY'CASTLE

Not Planet Paradise but somewhere really rather nice.

2006-06-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

Much as I love Planet Paradise, I do in fact like to get around the UK a bit.

Recently I visited Colchester in Essex to do My Marathon Challenge, You can read about it HERE

It had been cold cloudy and a little bit rainy all week , however on the Saturday before I travelled home the sun shone so Jay, my hostess with the mostess took me on a tour of Sunny Suffolk where she grew up (Has Jay grown up then yet, dear readers? ;0) )

Here are some photos I took at Alton Water…..

This is of Grace Kelly, oops! I mean Jay, riding mean machine Moses.

The next is Jay’s brother and sister-in-law at the world renowned (?????? Well I’ve heard of it at least ) Coffee Shop at Holbrook.

The next photos are taken at Pin Mill on the River Orwell.

It was the most wonderful morning out but we had to curtail it because I was needed back home at Planet Paradise.

It’s worth turning exile now and then
And from little Wales to go,
In order to come back to Wales
And be able to love her more

Eifion Wyn (Welsh Bard)

Things I enjoy # 4 - Swimming

2006-05-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

As I’ve mentioned previously in this Blog I was always terrified of the water as a child, and at the age of 12 was frightened even further by a Physical Education Teacher who tossed me into the school pool, knowing full well that I couldn’t swim. Can’t teachers make or break a child at times?

And this may sound rich coming from the fingers of one who trained in that profession.I finally learned to swim in my mid thirties because I’d had a muscular back injury and was told that swimming was the best way of keeping further problems at bay, so I taught myself to swim and to swim properly with head down, front crawl until I swam my victorious first whole length.I continued in this vein until I built my stamina levels up to swimming 64 lengths which is equivalent to a mile, 3 x weekly. However Multiple Sclerosis takes over occasionally and I had a break during a relapse.

People may look upon swimming as a means to an end, in so much as that you exercise your cardio-vascular health. Therefore you can just keep pounding the lengths relentlessly or you can exercise your limbs safely because the water takes your weight, but I never really found any joy in that.

I'm the type of person who, if I don't enjoy what I'm doing by totally getting 'lost in the moment' , then I may as well not do it at all. I bought the following book....THE ART OF SWIMMING... because not only does it show you how to use The Alexander Technique during swimming to maximise its health benefits but it also has many pages on what I would describe as 'The Zen' of swimming.

This concept was something which appealed to me more than anything. My favourite swimming venue is a pool 6 miles up the valley from where I live, at Pontardawe. It’s is enclosed by glass windows and outside are views of hills, mountains and trees which are really rather beautiful and on a sunshiny day; the rays of the sun hit the deep end of the pool in such a way that if I hang there, head down in mushroom shaped float with eyes open inside my goggles, then it's almost like being in some kind of magical rainbow with the sunshine prismed through the ripples of the water.

By the time I've finished my swim, I've exercised my stresses away because exercise raises endorphin levels, and I feel high on life despite feeling dead on my feet ; I've exercised my heart and lungs which is vital to all of us but I've also attained a kind of higher level of being, almost like having been in meditation. I expect that by now, everyone thinks I'm ready for the funny farm but on the contrary, it really does bring an added dimension into your life.

For Huw the rock

2006-04-16T01:31:00.000-07:00

TIME IN A BOTTLE by JIM CROCE

If I could save time in a bottle,
The first thing that I’d like to do,
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you.

If I could make days last forever,
If words could make wishes come true,
I’d save every day like a treasure and then
Again I would spend them with you.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do.
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with.

If I had a box just for wishes,
And dreams that had never come true,
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do.
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with.

INVICTUS by W.E.Henley

2006-04-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloodied but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

W.E. Henley

More on Poetry and Song

2006-03-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

I'm a firm believer in the power of the written word in the form of song lyrics and poetry when it comes to evoking powerful sentiments. This song means says much on many levels. It's a love song, it's a song of hope, but to me the following lines speak strongly on my 'take' on life with MS.....

"It's the heart afraid of breaking.

That never learns to dance."

....................................................

And the soul afraid of dyin'

That never learns to live."

It's called THE ROSE by Bette Midler and Amanda Broom and is from the film of that name about the life of the late Janis Joplin...................

Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give,
And the soul afraid of dyin'
That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose.

I'd like to add a special thanks to my friend Jan of Wisteria House for letting me use her wonderful photos.

A Taste of Planet Paradise #1

2006-03-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

WELSHCAKES

Ingredients

8 oz. self – raising flour
4 oz. margerine
3 oz. caster sugar
3 ozs. currants
pinch of mixed spice
2 tablespoons milk
large knob of lard or Cookeen

Method

Rub the margarine, flour, caster sugar & mixed spice together into a fine mixture.
Add the currants.
Add milk and knead into “dough”
Roll this out into a layer about 1cm thick.
Cut out into shapes using pastry cutter.

Dash out to the nearest cookware shop to buy a flat thick iron bakestone or griddle - not the ridged ones. After recovery from hernia operation dig out an old heavy bottomed frying pan or the like, to use instead.

Heat the bakestone on a moderate heat then add small knob of lard (puke!)
Place as many welshcakes as you can onto the cooking vessel and cook on either side for about 5 mins. Keep repeating this until all the dough is used or the legs are totally done for.

Sprinkle with caster sugar and leave to cool.

Depends on the size of the pastry cutters this should make about 2 doz. I always double the amount and put some in the freezer for when uninvited guests pop in.

HEALTH WARNINGS: Do not eat if on The Best Bet Diet

Also keep some antacids or pantoprazole at the ready if anyone suffers heartburn or ulcers. Otherwise - enjoy!

GET STUFFED!

Out and about on Planet Paradise # 1

2006-03-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

This is possibly one of my favourite places on Planet Paradise, only a 15 mins. drive from home. It is the Lower Lliw Valley Reservoir and there is a 3km walk around it. However for those who can walk further there is a tarmac path leading to the Upper Lliw Reservoir. This was taken in Autumn but we love to go during the spring as well when the leaves and buds are sprouting.

What captured my eye most in these was the reflection in the still water. That morning there was a stillness in the air which was almost palpable, broken only by the occasional baa-ing of grazing sheep and a woof of a dog from a distant farmyard; even the birdsong didn't interrupt upon the tranquility, if anything, it added to it.

This next photo was of trickle of water running down the hillside and cutting through the pathway almost like an uninvited guest but oh! what a wonderful sight was that of our guest! It gave us a thirst to drink of it's clean coldness.

The next takes us back to the beginning of our tour-a New Year's Eve lunchtime at Caswell Bay. The air was cold and clear, cutting like a diamond cuts through steel, although it didn't deter the odd surfer.

We had to laugh when we saw these ladies. "Is this the way to the wellie department in Harrod's?" I joked with my loved one. I felt like crying out- "Laydeez, you took the wrong turning on the M4! You're heading for the Bristol Channel, not Chanel No.5!"

And the following looks as if it's taken at twilight. Lighting can be deceptive during the short days of winter - this was 1p.m. in the afternoon. Brrrrr! Hope those wets suits did the trick, unless those surfers didn't actually get into the water. It's been known to happen frequently in Poser's Paradise!

This is of Mumbles Head taken from West Cross, Planet Paradise- not on New Year's Eve in this case, but on June 21st- the longest day.

Again - the longest day. but further along the Gower Pensinsula at Worm's Head. This is at high tide but during low tide it's possible to walk across a causeway to The Worm. Many a walker has been caught by the high tide and air-lifted from there.

Finally - dusk further west at Planet Paradise. This is of Porthgain in Pembrokeshire where a 17th Century smuggler's haunt , named 'The Sloop Inn' serves the best crab sandwiches, crab salads, dressed crab, undressed crab ...oh! and the best grilled sea bass served on top of a pattie of creamed potato mixed with spring onions drizzled in a light ginger sauce. Did I mention somewhere earlier that I love food? I'm the ulimate wannabee gastronome.

Laughter is the best Medicine

2006-03-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

Quote:

‘The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.’
~ e. e. cummings

It’s believed that a good bout of laughter provides a safety valve which shuts off the flow of stress hormones which is triggered by our biological ‘fight or flight’ response when we feel stress, anger or hostility.

Unblocked, and in the absence of laughter, these stress hormones can weaken the immune system, increase the number of blood platelets (which can clog the arteries) and raise blood pressure.

When we laugh, natural killer cells which destroy tumours and viruses increase, along with Gamma-interferon (a disease-fighting protein), T-cells (important for our immune system) and B-cells (which make disease-fighting antibodies). As well as lowering blood pressure, laughter increases oxygen in the blood, which also encourages healing.

I believe that laughter is a vital coping mechanism, which gives us a cathartic outlet for dealing with stress, humiliation, embarrassment, pain and suffering.Where else to go but here to find that laughter ………

Squiffy's House of Fun ~ Laughter for MS

Here is Squiffy himself on his completion of the 2005 Flora London Marathon, not that he was laughing at that very moment, but weeping with a mixture of exhaustion , happiness and a whole range of other emotions - I witnessed it all.

You can read his own account of it .....

HERE!

I have to admit to having tears of laughter running down my face at some of his worst jokes ever e.g.

Patient: Doc, everywhere I look I see frogs, rabbits, and kangaroos!
What’s wrongwith me?

Doctor: Don’t worry, it’s just a hoptical illusion.

I’ll just end with another quote…

‘Seven days without laughter makes one WEAK.’ ~ Anon.

Springtime in Planet Paradise

2006-03-08T03:09:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO GLYNCOLLEN WOODS

SUNLIGHT THROUGH THE TREES

TICK-TOCK the DANDELION CLOCK

CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME

VIBRANCY

BLUEBELLS

SPOT THE SQUIRREL

SQUIRREL NUTKIN

TOWARDS ABERAERON

ABERAERON

THREE CLIFFS - The Gower Peninsula.

TORPOINT - The Gower Peninsula

Things I enjoy # 4 - Swimming - Part 1

2006-03-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

I was always terrified of the water as a child and at the age of 12 was frightened even further by a Physical Education Teacher who tossed me into the school pool, knowing full well that I couldn’t swim. Can’t teachers make or break a child at times ? And this may sound rich coming from the fingers of one who trained in that profession.

I finally learned to swim in my mid thirties because I’d had a muscular back injury and was told that swimming was the best way of keeping further problems at bay, so I taught myself to swim and to swim properly with head down, front crawl until I swam my victorious first whole length.

I continued in this vein until I built my stamina levels up to swimming 64 lengths which is equivalent to a mile, 3 x weekly. However Multiple Sclerosis takes over occasionally and I had a break during a relapse. It was during one particular relapse that I discovered a wealth of support from the online community at MSRC and at a time when they issued their first
My Marathon Challenge

I took part in this and completed not 26.2 lengths but 27 lengths- who would quibble about these figures, except for a pedant like myself? I also raised over £300 for MSRC in the process.

Here I am. Please don’t be frightened at the sight. I frighten myself each time I look at it!

I continue to swim if and when I can and on August 30th 2005 set out on my own ‘marathon’ which is the equivalent in lengths of 26.2 miles, but broken up into many sessions. Whether I’ll achieve those 26.2 miles is in the lap of the gods when MS is part of the equation and also life as a ‘mature’ person in it, but I sincerely believe I can do this.

Quote from ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’ by Richard Bach:

'You can because you think you can.'

Enough said?

Introducing 'Us'.

2006-03-07T01:31:00.000-08:00

‘Us’ are myself and my husband of nearly 29 yrs and friend of 33 yrs, though I would guess that having the wicked sense of humour which he has, he may dispute the term ‘friend’ . The term ‘partner in occasional disharmony’ is the term which he uses as we both share the same modem but not the same PC, metaphorically speaking. However to use another euphemism, we do indeed sing from the same hymnsheet most of the time.

An addition to ‘us’ arrived over 21 yrs ago in the form of a son, who now occasionally lives on Planet Paradise but mostly on Planet Zog as they do at that age.

The two men in my life are mostly my reason for living but often , because I’m a constant butt of their jokes, being the accident–prone Person with MS which I am, they are often the reason for me wanting to dash off into the sunset of another planet.

Of course, everyone who knows me would know that I speak in jest, so here they are....

I call head of the family, silently to myself, Simon Peter, because he is the rock upon which our small family unit is built. The light of our life and fruit of our loins is nick-named Stiff by his dad though search me if I know why - I guess it’s a father and son thing so I tread warily upon such territory. We women are unwelcome guests in such a place at certain times- maybe we women don't need to go there either?

And me? No need of another mugshot

Things I enjoy # 3 - Food

2006-03-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

I love food- don't we all? In saying that, I don't necessarily mean that I love eating- of course I do, but I love to cook; I love to cook for others when my revolting and rebellious hands listen to what my de-myelinated brain tell them.I find that cooking, when not under the duress of scheduled mealtimes , a very therapeutic thing to do.

For example, if I'm upset and angry there ensues a lot of chopping and dicing of vegetables(sometimes of fingers as well); if I'm feeling calm , there's no better feeling than rubbing flour and margerine together and feeling the lightness drift ethereally through my fingertips like unexpected snowfall in springtime. It can be a very soulful experience.

This book is a compilation of my own Recipes - the name says it all. It was written by me with full colour photos by myself (except for the cover) and all proceeds from its sale go to

MSRC

It costs a mere £5.50 on request from their office or from myself

Email me!

It is no regular cookbook as it contains not just Recipes but fun and jokes from the online community at
MSRC therefore I consider it a team effort.

Please check back occasionally for more original Recipes from me in this post.

Things I enjoy #2 - Poetry

2006-03-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

I love the written word. I love language. My first language is Welsh , however I speak little of it these days as not many of my friends understand it it. Welsh poetry is simply divine- if I posted any here then no-one would understand.

I love English Poetry just as much and even more when I hear it 'performed' or read 'live'. This is one of my favourites with accompanying picture, not that it is a wild flower but it just seems to fit in with these words by William Blake from his 'Auguries of Innocence'.

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

Things I enjoy #1 - Photography

2006-03-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

Planet Paradise has some spectacular scenery and one of the things (only one of the things) I enjoy, is taking photographs of it to show my friends around the world. This was taken just yesterday- snow in March on Planet Paradise? almost unheard of, but here is the proof.

THE BRECON BEACONS MOUNTAIN CENTRE

AT STOREY ARMS

Breughel-esque or what???

About Me

2006-03-05T04:29:00.000-08:00

Boo! Here I am! I’m 51 years old, female and use the pseudonym FGS, which is an acronym for Fat Girl Slim. I decided on the name when registering with the Discussion Boards at MSRC because over the last few years I’ve slimmed down in weight from over 12 ½ Stone to just under 10 stone .

I have a condition called Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis but please don’t think this is a death sentence, on the contrary, I look upon it as a life sentence because it has freed up my time to do the things I enjoy so much (more on that later).

I volunteer for the 3rd largest M.S. Charity in the UK

MSRC

Here is their mission statement:-

“The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre (MSRC) is a proactive and innovative charity, passionately committed to supporting anyone affected by Multiple Sclerosis through access to unbiased information and advice. Our approach is to encourage individuals to make choices that are appropriate to their daily lives, empowering them to maximise their potential."

I fully endorse this statement and love the fact that MSRC is also known as “Home of the Free" because it encourages uncensored discussions on any MS related subject.

Welcome to Planet Paradise

2006-02-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

Our tour begins here at Caswell Bay, The Gower Peninsula, South Wales, UK.

This has one of the best beaches in the area which is safe for swimming but also a favourite with surfers when conditions are favourable .

'We' (more about 'us' later) had our Wedding Reception in an Hotel high on the cliff above this spot and it remains still dear in our hearts and much visited 29 yrs later. This photo was taken on New Year's Eve 2004.