Monday, 28 June 2010

Radio Diary

I was asked back in March to do a one week radio diary for the programme "Little Cumbria" on Radio Cumbria, during the week before Carlisle United Football Club were going to Wembley Stadium, London, for the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final. Recently they sent me a CD of the broadcast, and I have reproduced it here:-

Monday - My usual carer was on holiday, so her replacement arrived to make sure I was up, showered, dressed and breakfasted (or at least had a cup of coffee) ready for the day. Not much hope of it today as the medication I am on makes me feel nauseous and exhausted all the time. It is supposed to lessen the risk of an angina attack, but it seems to do this by lessening my ability to be perpendicular for more than five minutes at a time. Eli and I had lunch at Mamas restaurant before doing some shopping and visiting the library to borrow a Japanese language course. I have been learning Japanese for a while. When we got home I got into bed and played computer games.


Tuesday - The carer arrived very early this morning but I did not really want to get up.. these pills are the absolute pits. However.. after a while I did get dressed and Eli and I went into the city centre to pay some bills and do some shopping. We had lunch in the Old Arcadian. On the way home Eli picked up a new computer game and then we had a quiet time together for a couple of hours. We headed to Brunton Park for the football match against Yeovil, which Carlisle won. We try and go to as many home games as we can. We have season tickets and we are going to Wembley on the supporters coach. It will be a very early start as we put the clocks forward that weekend!


Wednesday - Eli went to do my banking and pay some bills. I didn’t feel up to it so I stayed in bed. We had lunch at home then at 3pm I went to the Doctor as I needed a repeat prescription. I was feeling a bit better so we went into the city centre via my other daughter’s house to drop off some post, bumped into my grandson on the way. We did some shopping then looked around for some jeans for Eli. Several shops later.. still no jeans. She couldn’t find any that were affordable or that fitted well (or both). We were exhausted so we popped into Subway for a break (and so as not to need to make tea later). We must REALLY have been tired. We fell asleep by 8 o’clock!


Thursday - Eli and I met up with Chris and Sarah for lunch in Woodrow Wilson. The very friendly waiter made us smile. The food was good and so was the company. Went into the city centre to try and find Eli these elusive jeans. TKMaxx came up trumps .. two pairs were suitable and purchased. Also cat food and litter and sundry shopping .. then into New Look for a blue t-shirt for Eli to wear to the Johnsons Paint Trophy Final at Wembley. Naturally, they had an offer on so we ended up buying 3 pairs for £12! Not bad. My grandson came round after school as his Mum was out walking the husky puppy, and as it was raining, he stayed with us until she came to pick him up.


Friday - This morning we are broadband enabled.. eventually.. after much muttering and grumbling and re-reading of instructions and plugging and unplugging.. my iMac is now ourMac until we can get Eli’s computer attached to the router. Finally... emails load before you can make a cup of tea, facebook updates more than once an hour and twitter is as quick as it sounds. Progress... I think. My weekly carer came to take me out in the car, so I went to get an ethernet cable, then a much deserved coffee and cake. It gave Eli some quality time with my computer. Now that we have a fast connection in my room, I may get to see more of her. Happy days! The only thing that worries me now is.... what’s she going to burn for supper?



I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Thursday, 24 June 2010

Hi honey, I'm home!

Sorry for the delay in posting to this blog. A lot has been happening, some of which I will try and update on here.

It's convention time in the JW year again, and our congregation was assigned to the Newcastle convention last weekend. We travelled by coach with our brothers and sisters each day for the three days Friday through Sunday. This entailed getting up at five a.m. to get breakfast and showered, dressed and prepared in time for the taxi to get to the Kingdom Hall for 6.45am.

As you can imagine, travelling when coping with a chronic disability is never easy, but with the help of my friends I was able to manage with the wheelchair. Eli of course was a tremendous help as always, despite her own health issues.

We arrived in Newcastle each day at about 8.30am, in good time to find places in the auditorium and get settled before the program began.

A few of the highlights:

Two new brochures were released, dealing with the question of whether life was created or evolved by chance. One is very in depth for those who wish to look deeper into this issue than the information provided in the other brochure. They look very interesting, and I am going to enjoy discussing them with people in my local area.

A new book was released, to help us cope with the difficulties we face in these critical times. It compares the situation facing Jeremiah, who lived in times very similar to our own, and how he coped with Jehovah's help. I am sure I will need to refer to this very often! We will be studying it as a congregation later in the year as well. Very timely help indeed!

On the saturday, 24 new brothers and sisters were baptized, which was a lovely event to witness, as we were able to view the baptism in the auditorium in a specially constructed pool in front of the platform.

Sunday brought us a new full-costume drama about the flight from Jerusalem just prior to the Romans destroying the city in the first Century. It was very thought provoking, as of course we are living in a time of similar upheaval.

Also, on the Sunday, a new DVD was released, detailing the beginnings of the modern day organisation. Eli and I watched this on Monday evening, and enjoyed it very much.

Unfortunately, following three days of travelling and sitting at a convention, the body does make you pay for it! I have been very sore and exhausted for the last three days, and only today am I starting to feel a little better. However, the benefits of attending far outweigh the problems it stores up for the body to deal with.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us, as we are looking after my grandson while his mum attends a wedding in Scotland. In the meantime, it is a beautiful sunny day and I am going to the library soon. I have completed the Japanese Language A part I and II Beginners so I am going to see if they have B part I and II Intermediate for me to borrow.

Bye for now!

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Japanese diary Day Six - Wednesday

(English translation)

Wednesday 9th June 2010

Today we are having horrible weather. It is cold. My friend Sheila came to my house at 8.30 am. My friend Tina came at 11.30. Eli, Tina and I went to the post office and the bank. Sheila did not come with us. She went home. At 12.00pm Eli went home. Tina and I went to a restaurant. We had coffee and a sandwich. At 1pm Tina went to work in the Shopmobility Carlisle branch office. I went to the library. Later I returned home. Eli and I had lunch at 2pm.

Japanese diary Day Five - Tuesday

(English translation)

Tuesday 8th June 2010

Today at 11.00am Eli and I went to a restaurant for breakfast. At 1pm Eli went to Brampton to visit friends. I came home at 1.30pm. Shiela arrived at 5.30pm and left at 7pm. Eli returned to the house at 9pm.

Japanese diary Day Four - Monday

(English translation)

Monday 7th June 2010

At 12 noon Eli and I went to the post office and the bank. Later we went to Tesco to do shopping. We returned home at 2pm. I was tired so I went to bed and watched dvds.

Sunday, 6 June 2010

Japanese diary Day Three - Sunday

(English Translation)

Sunday, June 6th 2010.

Good evening!


Today it was cloudy. We woke up about 11.00am. I went to a meeting for worship this afternoon. Eli and Nicky did not come with me. We had our evening meal together before he returned home about 6.00pm. He returns to school tomorrow. The holiday is ended.

Japanese diary Day Two - Saturday

(English Translation)

Saturday, June 5th 2010.

Good evening!

Yesterday it was sunny again. I did not go anywhere in the morning. In the afternoon my grandson Nicky came to our house. Myself, my daughter Eli and Nicky had dinner together. He played computer games with Eli until bedtime. He slept at our house.


Saturday, 5 June 2010

Japanese diary Day One - Friday

(English Translation)

Friday, June 4th 2010.

Good morning!

Yesterday Harumi Sensei came to our house at 7pm. At 8.30pm Eli and I went to Botchergate to have our dinner. We returned home at 9.30pm.

Today it is sunny. Eli and I are not going to the shops today. My grandson is coming later. He will return home tomorrow.






What are you doing now?

Thursday during my Japanese lesson, my Sensei Harumi-san requested I keep a diary for one week in Japanese. I will be posting it on my Japanese blog, with an English translation on this site.

At the end of the week I will continue with the diary in Japanese only. This site will revert to its previous format.

Hope that explains things clearly enough. Take care everyone!