January 7th. Bramble,The Dog Who Wanted To Live Forever.

It was during one of my 'writers block' moments that a friend suggested I write about her dog.  At first I pondered, as me animals and writing have never mixed, but actually, it is an interesting story which I'm sure some readers may like to hear, and as you know, I'm always up for a bit of diversity.

I first met Anne Heritage in the mid eighties.  She was friends with my Brother-In-Law at the time and we later became work colleagues.  

Anne was what some would call an unusual character.  She had her own individual style, strong beliefs and opinions and was not afraid to speak her mind. What stood out for me with Anne was her love and respect for animals. She would readily admit to having more time for them than humans, although I have to say when I worked with Anne she showed great dignity and respect to the individuals she supported with disabilities.  She was and still is a vegan (trust me I've been on the receiving end of the wind!!) and a huge campaigner and advocate for animal rights.

As I said before, Anne was an interesting character. A story which sticks out predominately in my mind is when their female Dog of many years passed on. Anne was, as you can imagine devastated with the loss of Floyd, and in an ideal situation would want her buried in the Garden in which Floyd loved to play.  Unfortunately this was not possible as the house was rented so Anne and her friend did the best thing. They bought a chest freezer.

I can imagine some of you sat there now thinking them just a little bit weird but think about it.

Yes, Floyd is preserved in ice, with her blanket and flowers what's so weird about that?

To quote Anne, " Many people have dead animals in their chest freezers. The difference being we don't eat ours."

I will now let Anne share her story of another of her companions Bramble, The Dog Who Wanted To Live Forever.

Many thanks to Jackie for letting me guest on her blog. Id like to talk to you about making strange things happen. One of the great things about life is its unexpectedness;I enjoy trying to make the impossible happen. One example of this in my life was how I managed to get a dog in my care to live to twenty five years old. When she died she was the worlds oldest bitch. I did this by inventing a diet and care regime for her that no one had tried before. It worked and I wrote a book about it which you can now read. In my opinion people also die too soon. Maybe we could all live longer if we did things differently. If you would like to read my book here is the link..its about the art of whats possible in life as much as anything. Don't let other peoples ideas limit your imagination. Dream about something different then do it. Enjoy. Now you can read about the diet and care regime of the dog who at the time of her death was the worlds oldest bitch. Its also rescue collie Brambles life story and suggests new ways of relating to the Animals in our care. Read about promoting longevity in your dog and Brambles adventures with her friends in Somerset. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ABGW8KS/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_7cnTqb0C067GY

Bramble; The dog who wanted to live forever. The Somerset notes.

www.amazon.co.uk

January 6th. Tempted by Jack.

So things were going pretty well. 4th day into the Dryathlon for Cancer Research and not a drop of alcohol had touched my lips.  It was a miserable weekend and we had terrible weather. The threat of localised flooding, gale force winds and generally being very wet outside meant we were inside to stay.  

Now I'm not much of a home bird and I do like to get out and about, especially on an evening, but this night was definitely one for the sofa, fire and a good film. Brilliant weather for ducks but not for me!!

At the same time as taking part in the Dryathlon I had also given up smoking!! I didn't really smoke that much but I must admit I probably increased my addiction over the Festive period. I was getting fidgety.....

I'd spent what seemed like eternity knocking up what I would say was an amazing meal and was sat supping on my elderflower mineral water afterwards.

Hubby comes in and say," Fancy a Honey Jack Daniels with ice?"  I frown.......

"Oh sorry Love, you can't have any can you? Don't worry, no one one will know."    I will know.......

After several minutes of umming and ahhhing, shall I and shan't I, I gave in, decided to use my golden ticket and opted to pay the £20 'falling off the wagon fine' and pay the money to Cancer Research.

Was it worth it?  Yes!!  I had a lovely warming glass of Honey JD, didn't get plastered but I have to say, it was probably one of the most expensive drinks I have ever bought.....

I am pleased to say I am now back on the wagon, still off the fags and it's still raining.

Come back tomorrow for the story of the worlds oldest dog.

January 5th. The Wonderful Thing About Onesies.

I was beginning to think I had set myself up to fail with my post a day for a year challenge! Since recovery and my mental health being on the straight and narrow my posts have started to become a little random.  I'm hoping because of this I won't be losing readers.    I will continue to write about Eating Disorders and my involvement with the positive body image campaign Body Gossip, as my main aim is still to help others feel good about themselves.  A brilliant way to feel good about yourself is not to take yourself too seriously......

wear a Onesie.

I presumed that Onesies were a staple fashion piece, part of our capsule wardrobe, until a friend from Germany came to stay with us over Christmas.  He was amazed that people actually wore them, bad enough indoors but to be actually be seen out in public!!

Onesies are a cross between a babygro and underwear that would be seen on men in an old Western movie.

Dependant on your body shape, wearing one can make you look like like either a Telly-tubby or Lara-croft from Tomb Raider!!  I am possibly somewhere in the middle.

The selection is amazing. So many to chose from and many advantages.

• They save on heating bills. Wack on a Onesie and turn down the heating.
• They can double up as a fancy dress costume.
• Brilliant contraception. No-one can get past this crotch!!
• Imagine the role play.
• Instant super hero.
• No need for socks/slippers if you get a footed one.
• Front pockets ideal for holding the remote.
• They are a great reflection of your personality or if bought as a gift how others see you :)

But they do have a few cons!!

• Difficult to pee in public toilets if you are male.
• You have to practically undress completely to use the toilet if you're female!!
• Make sure you buy for height otherwise you will have a constant wedgie.

All in all I am an advocate for the onesie, and here's more pics to prove it.

Love 'em or hate 'em, there's a onesie out there for everyone. Enjoy x

January 4th. Rebel With A Cause.

Remember the good old school days?  Disobeying the rules, two strikes then out!!! Even worse, Miss writing your name on the blackboard!!! Thankfully I never got as far as that so didn't find out what happened after your name was chalked down and subsequently rubbed out!

Facebook groups at times feel a bit like being back at school.

Now don't get me wrong, I know rules are there for reason.  I am a member of several groups both within the blogging and eating disorders community, and particularly within the ED groups there is a general rule regarding posting photos, weights, medical information etc due to the triggering risk to its members.

I also realise that there are a lot of trolls and spammers on the Internet. People who use groups productively do not want their news-feed blocked with advertising for their latest venture or sales material. 

More often than not I would say that group members I have come across are respectful of rules but sometimes errors are made.

Group threads can be confusing. Dependent on how you are accessing the information you may miss a pinned post. Newer postings bump back to the top causing a shift in the structure.....gives me a headache just thinking about it!

You may well comment on more posts than are suggested  in the chain rules!!!! Isn't that what blogs are about? Finding a common interest, starting a discussion, sharing. You may even post more than a thumbnail, buts its not the end of the world.  Just remember there are ways of telling people they have made mistake. Don't write their name on the board or make them stand up in class so everyone can see, that's just not nice!!!

Back to the school days.  I always wanted to write something I shouldn't within the content of an essay, just to see if 'Sir' actually read it and commented.  Of course I never did... too scared of the repercussions.

I wonder if the person I am talking about today will read and recognise this and maybe think about the way she approaches people?  I haven't been banned off a group since the day I spammed Abbercrombie and Fitch with pictures of Body Gossip T-shirts!!  Lets hope not.

See you all tomorrow xx

January 3rd. Abstinence.

Abstinence 

Ignore the saboteurs,

The ones who try and make you stray,

Who help you lose your way.

'One won't hurt,' falls on deaf ears,

Avert your eyes from cider and beers.

No need to grieve for malt and hops,

Or smell the mead in the farmhouse shops.

Your liver has a new found zest,

The hangover will no longer molest

Your head in the morn and strangle your head,

And leaving you writhing in your bed.

Instead you rouse with open eyes,

Throw open the curtains look up to the sky's,

And think only 3 more weeks to lose,

'Til I can get back on the booze!!!

Not sure what I'm finding more difficult. Packing in smoking or not having a glass of wine at night!!  Probably a combination of both.  Have filled the fridge with some lovely fruit flavored mineral waters to give me a change from coffee on an evening.  The combination of coffee and fags just seem to fit together nicely.

The weather here is currently lousy otherwise I would be off out for a walk to give me something to do.  Lots of wind and rain and only going to get worse over the weekend!!  Suppose I could just hit the jelly babies again or blog rubbish for the next few months. 

See you tomorrow xx never give up, giving Up.

January 2nd. How Do You Eat Yours?

Jelly babies :)   I love them. When I was a little girl they were so much bigger, but like all the sweets of yesteryear they have decreased in size and increased in price!! My only criticism has to be that they are very difficult to stop eating and depending on the brand, can have too much icing sugar on them.
I have to admit, even though my eating disorder is under control I do have to put the jar in cupboard. Out of sight-out of mind is definitely true with these little blighters.
Originally known as Peace Babies, Jelly Babies were launched 75 Years ago by Bassett's - one of Britain's oldest sweets manufacturers - to celebrate the end of the first world war
Peace Babies were popular between the wars, but due to a shortage of raw materials, Bassetts stopped producing them during the Second World War. They were reborn in 1953, and renamed The Jelly Babies.

• They have been a popular sweet with several Dr Who's.
• There Baby Brilliant, Bubbles,Booful, Bigheart, Bumper and Bonny. They all lay a different instrument in the band and have unique skateboarding skills!  Seriously!!  I don't go along with this individual baby tosh. Start giving them identities and I will have to think twice about eating them.
• George Harrison was hit in the eye at a Beatles gig by a Jelly baby. He made the mistake of telling his fans that he liked them!!  

Why Did The Jelly baby Go To School?

Because He Wanted To Be A Smartie :)

Apparently you can tell a lot about a person by how you eat them!!

• Eat it whole-you are confident and outgoing.
• Eat the feet first-you lack confidence and are shy.
• Bite the head of first-you have a mean streak.
• You eat it any old way-you are a slob and a bit thoughtless.

OK, I cram at least 3 in my mouth at once. What does that say??

A little thought to be going on with. We are all bit like sweets. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sickly,sometimes bitter, often nutty, can take a long time to get to the best bit, what you see on the outside is not always what you find in the inside. 

See you tomorrow. xxx

January 1st. Putting things into perspective.

January 1st 2014.  Today is the first day of a new year which brings with it 365 blog posts, 365 photographs, a dry January ( in alcohol not weather!) and yet again another attempt to give up smoking.

 For those of you who think I have still given up, yes I failed. I managed for about 8 months and stupidly thought it ok to just have one, then another, then another. Pretty stupid really when you think about it.

My longest period of giving up was 6 years after my Dad was really ill following years of strokes.  Not only did I not want to end up with heart disease like my Father but it was the aftermath of the illness. My Mothers life came crashing down and her role changed from Wife and Lover to carer. Their twilight years of retirement which should have been spent enjoying each other were replaced with mood swings, anger, resentment, illness, sadness and tears.

Both of my Parents passed years before their time, maybe if they had listened to their Doctors advice, their Family and their bodies things may have been so different.  Sadly I shall never know.

Recent events have shown me that illness can happen at any time, to anyone and its a scary thought.

It makes you think about your own mortality, the people you love and if you have a chance to do something about it you should.

So I am getting rid of all the bullshit of why I can't do something, and instead telling myself why I should and how I can.  Starting with today and the Cancer Research Dryathlon I shall be giving up the booze throughout January, and maybe longer. 

I am giving up the fags for myself, my family and friends.

Anybody fancy joining me?

P.S...  My first picture of the year. This is why I am not setting foot outside the door!!