22 June 2007 June 22, 2007

Environment: 

I finally caught the Government CO2 calculator in a good mood. My (individual) result: 1.75 tonnes. It’s so low because I don’t own a car, I don’t fly - I rely almost entirely on public transport and my own two feet.  The main suggestion for me seemed to be to switch to green electricity. Our electricity supplier isn’t down to me, but I’ve had a look at Scottish Hydro Electric’s green option - power2 and it seems like an easy sell. It apparently shouldn’t cost more than their regular tariff. Mum is all for being greener, but ultimately it would be Dad who would have to make the phone call. I’ve emailed him a not-so-gentle hint.

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(Sacred) Art: 

I’m not a Buddhist.  I tend to tell people I am an atheist, but really I am more accurately an agnostic.  Anyway, that is all beside the point: I am not a Buddhist, but I have been looking at mandalas.  I have started to meditate to relax and one thing led to another and I found myself looking at websites about mandalas.  From what I can tell they are made and used to aid meditation by focussing the mind.  I like the artistic aspect to them.  I don’t think I’ll try meditating with one, but I think I might take inspiration from them - and the principles which guide their creation - for a little art project.  As a child I had one of those Spirograph toys, and I was curious to see if they were still being made.  Well, they are, but they’re not the same.  I see that there is also a Mandala Designer toy available (for all budding Buddhist children?).  There is even a computer programme called Mandala Painter.  I had a go with the programme trial and it’s quite fun (see piccie for my first, rather feeble attempt!).  I’d bet that with some practice it would be possible to produce some beautiful and interesting images.  I think that I’m going to focus my efforts on producing something with pens/pencils/paints and paper though.

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 Shopping:

I got my Natural Grocery order today.  I love getting parcels and this was one BIG parcel!  I’d ordered organic cordial, tea, noodles and liquorice, and they all arrived in perfect condition.  Ooh, all so yummy!  The slight delay in the delivery was more than made up for by the products and the free postage.  I’ll definitely be shopping there again.

I got more of the Cinnamon Yogi Tea, but I also got some Choco Yogi Tea which is even more scrummy, especially when you stick a bit of milk in it.  I really like the packaging too.   Each box has a yoga position on it with instructions and each tea bag has a wise little saying on it.

I opted for a garden-themed alternative pressie for Mum and Dad’s anniversary, and I also ordered at bird nest via the Ethical Superstore (I even got to ‘offset my carbon’ on the delivery).  Yes, it was a bit random, but it looked sweet and was very, very cheap!

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Kitten cat update:

We’ve been keeping Dolly in since we got her.  The cat flap is on ‘in only’, so that Boo can get in (but she has to wail to be let out).  Anyway, I took Dolly outside today.  I just held her while we sat on the bench by the back door.  She was hyper-alert and the slightest noise or movement made her puff up her tail.  I brought her back into the house after a few minutes, but later on there was a strange noise coming from the utility room (where the cat flap is located).  Curiosity got the better of me and I had to have a look.  Dolly was whacking the cat flap with her paws, seemingly desperate to get out.  Part of me thinks that she should be let out to explore (or even find her way back to her original owners?!?), but the other part of me thinks that really she hasn’t been here long enough and doesn’t know her (new) name.  Also, I’m still not convinced that she’s not a kitten, so maybe she should be kept in until she’s older.  It’s hard to know what to do.  The vet seemed to think that after this amount of time it was unlikely that her original owners wanted her back, after all they have (apparently) done nothing to find her.  I think the cautious part of me will probably win this one at least for a couple more weeks.

26 May 2007 May 26, 2007

Still tired. In fact I’m constantly tired. Ugh, this is just going to get worse as my pred goes down.

I feel asleep last night while listening to my guided visualisation mp3 … I seem to vaguely recall not being able to imagine what my ‘healing voice’ looked like, then the next thing I knew it was 6am. I was burning peppermint essential oil and I was so relaxed and snuggly on my bed, so it doesn’t surprise me that I fell asleep so easily last night.

This morning I got up late and watched some News 24. It was a lovely day here and I spent some of it in the garden and some of it dragging Dad around a garden centre spending lots of his money on plants. We went there to buy a companion-style bench that Mum had seen a couple of weeks earlier, but we failed on that score.

I had some nausea today, but it passed quite quickly. I was wearing my travel sickness bands, so maybe they helped.

This evening we all settled down to watch Snakes on a Plane. Genius. ‘Nuff said.

Guided imagery May 20, 2007

 

 Last night I flopped on my bed and watched Rebus (Hannah not Stott!), then when it was finished and I was cosy and comfy I put on one of my new meditation audiobooks -Self-Healing with Guided Imagery: How to Use the Power of Your Mind to Heal Your Body by Andrew Weil and Martin L. Rossman.  It was very interesting, but I didn’t actually get as far as doing any guided visualization.  I was pleasantly surprised at how non-airie-fairie-wishie-washie-hippie-dippy it was.  Weil certainly was very persuasive and logical in his arguments, and was very clear that guided imagery should not be used as a replacement for conventional medicines and treatment.  I think it may be worth pursuing this and trying the guided meditation, as Weil says even if it does nothing else, it should relax me and take my mind off my worries for a short while.

Like I say, I didn’t get as far as the practical bits of the audiobook.  This was mainly because I was too tired.

Today was a busy day - out to M&S (the woman in the checkout queue ahead of us had even less hair than me, but she was old and somehow that seems more acceptable), then lunch with Dad, then we made the foolish decision to go and try and find him a comfy chair - not a wise move when you are stuffed with Sunday lunch.  Once we prised ourselves out of big, leather armchairs Dad took me to see Zodiac (loved it).  Anyway, I’m too tired to listen to any of the audiobook tonight, I’m just going to snuggle in my bed and sleep, sleep, sleep.

Complementary, alternative, holistic … whatever. May 19, 2007

I’m fed up with yo-yo-ing meds. I seem to be hitting a brick wall when it comes to tapering my prednisolone. I get to 15mg, then try to go lower but immediately flare up. It’s getting me down. I hate the side effects of the pred, but I hate the pemphie more.

Anyway, today I decided to try some other ’stuff’. Despite being a bit of a skeptic when it comes to ‘alternative’ health things I found myself looking at websites about meditation, hypnotherapy and homeopathy. I went as far as buying two guided meditation audiobooks. Both are to do with improving health, one specifically with the immune system. I did a bit of research on homeopathy, but I can’t bring myself to give those particular charlatans my money.

I must share a website I came across … I won’t say why for fear of being sued, but go and see if you don’t laugh too: Aberdeen Hypnotherapy.

I’ve just bought some travel sickness wrist bands in the hope that they will ease the nausea I get each morning.  I assume that the nausea is due to my Cellcept.  The wrist bands supposedly work “by applying pressure on the Nei Kuan acupressure point on each wrist” … whatever that means.  Right now I’m willing to give pretty much anything short of homeopathy a go.